


Bits and Pieces

by Eternally_Exhausted



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2019-07-14 13:51:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 55
Words: 27,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16041770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternally_Exhausted/pseuds/Eternally_Exhausted
Summary: Drabbles and one-shots related to The Atlantis Expedition. Many things that come after their big adventure, and maybe a few that came before.





	1. 20/20

**20/20**

Bad Cop didn’t even glance away from the television screen when their door swung open. There was only one person who ever let himself in like that (and they had learned very quickly it was better to leave the door unlocked when both they and Benny were home, otherwise the spaceman just found a more inventive way to let himself in- usually through a window), and he was always welcome anyway. Benny helped himself to a glass of iced tea before joining them on the couch, toeing off his shoes before propping his feet on the coffee table. Another compromise. “How did sign-ups go?” he asked once Benny had made himself comfy.

“Between Lucy and I, we have a whopping _three_ students,” Benny chuckled. “And that’s honestly _more_ than we were expecting. We did have a lot of people stop by and ask questions though, so I guess we’re making some progress.” He sipped his tea, blinked at it, then set it down on the coffee table before leaning in for a kiss. Bad Cop happily obliged, then pulled a face.

“Ugh. You taste like sugar.” Benny laughed.

“Why do you have such a thing against sweets?”

“Because _I’m_ the one that has to work it all back off when Alastar decides to binge.”

Benny snickered, and kissed him again. “If it makes you feel any better, I very much enjoy the results of your hard work. Especially those washboard abs, _damn_.”

“Ben…” he grumbled, looking away as his face heated up. “Behave.” Benny giggled and snuggled against his side.

“Anything interesting on?”

“Not really.”

“Oh, good. I have a question for you then.” Bad Cop turned back to him, indicating he was listening. Benny looked so serious, he wasn’t expecting the next words out of the spaceman’s mouth to be “do you wear contacts?” Benny pouted when he started laughing. “Dude, I’m serious! Alastar always wears his glasses, so I thought your sunglasses were prescription, but you don’t wear them all the time anymore so I kinda borrowed them for a few minutes the other day and they’re just normal shades, so do you wear contacts or is Alastar the only one that needs something to help him see? I really need to know, B, it’s driving me nuts!”

It took Bad Cop several minutes to get his giggles under control. “I’m sorry, Ben, I just wasn’t expecting that. Our vision isn’t perfect, but it’s not so bad that we really _need_ corrective lenses. Alastar just likes the way his glasses look, says they make him look less intimidating.”

“Well, he’s not wrong. Though that easy smile of his helps a lot too.”

Bad Cop shifted at his words, a tic that Benny had come to associate with his bouts of self-consciousness. “Does it bother you? That I’m not as outgoing as him?”

“Nah,” Benny assured, swinging a leg over Bad Cop’s to sit on his knees. “I _like_ that there’s a side of you that only a select few get to see.” He grinned. “I’m greedy that way.” When Bad Cop smiled at him, he leaned in to peck his lips. “Especially _that_ sweet smile. That one’s for me, and I’m not inclined to share.”

Bad Cop chuckled, touching their foreheads together and twining his fingers in Benny’s curls. “Neither am I.”


	2. Mechanism

**Mechanism**

“So you mentioned, when we were building the ship, that we were the first to figure out how to build in a transformation feature,” Bad Cop said out of nowhere. Benny glanced up at him from the tv. “I thought Metalbeard was able to transform his robot body?”

“Well yeah,” the spaceman agreed. “But for him, it’s magical in nature, rather than mechanical.”

“Because Unikitty had a paw in making it for him,” Bad Cop surmised, remembering the key-enchanting incident, and Benny nodded. “How exactly _did_ he survive, when there was barely anything left of him?”

“Well…”

~* *~

Benny heaved a sigh as he waited, halfway draped over the wheel. It was quiet up there, far too quiet for a crew of Master Builders storming the Tower, and he was getting worried. Sure, they were pretty high up, but- wouldn’t he see _some_ sort of activity? Explosions? Glass breaking, robots being thrown out? Something? He chewed on his lip, gaze glued to the top of the Tower. He knew this was a Bad Idea, he’d tried to tell them as much… He’d almost had Jonas convinced, but the rest of the crew talked him back into it.

The spaceman grumbled bitterly. They weren’t all the same crew the captain had when Benny had first been revived. Some had been captured by Bad Cop, but others had left of their own accord. They’d been _very_ angry to find Benny hadn’t trained to be a Master Builder like they all had, and didn’t consider him to be a _real_ Master Builder, especially considering all he could seem to make was spaceships. And if that wasn’t bad enough, his bouts of spastic energy and obsession had them convinced he must be _crazy_ too, and they wouldn’t abide by their captain constantly defending him.

Benny sighed again, the knots of worry in his stomach growing larger. He felt ashamed that he didn’t really care about the others, but if he wasn’t worth their time and energy, then they weren’t worth his either. But he hoped to anyone who was listening that Jonas would at least make it back out of there.

He was just debating flying up there to join them and help out when the Tower finally rocked with an explosion. “There it is,” he mumbled, but that gnawing feeling didn’t go away.

Something was wrong. Something was _very_ wrong. He saw something come flying out of the shattered window, a speck too small to see from that distance. But his ears soon told him what it was.

“ _JONAS!!_ ” Benny engaged his jetpack, shooting up to catch the mangled remains of his best friend. The pirate captain was screaming in agony, limbs missing, torso shredded beyond recognition. Oh, God, there was so much blood… Benny let himself drop back down, wasting no time getting below deck. His cryostasis pod was still in the cargo hold, still functioning, last he checked. His heart was pounding in his ears as he gently laid his friend in it, closing the lid and turning it on. It was a while before the muffled screaming faded, and Jonas fell into blissful unconsciousness.

Benny took one look as his suit, and bolted back up onto the deck to lean over the railing, shoving off his helmet before heaving up the contents of his stomach. He couldn’t- couldn’t just sit here- had to get away- Bad Cop would come at any second to finish the job-

Willing his stomach back into obedience, he staggered up to the helm, determined to get the Sea Cow as far away from the Tower as quickly as possible. He took just long enough to wriggle out of his space suit and fling it away, not caring he was just in a t-shirt and boxers, then turned on the propellers to help steer the ship away from the Tower. Strangely, there didn’t seem to be any pursuit, but he wasn’t about to question his luck. He simply got back to Cloud Cuckooland as quickly as he could manage.

~* *~

Unikitty bounced in excitement to see the Sea Cow float up to land among the clouds. She galloped out to greet the pirate crew back, but slid to a halt when the only person she saw on deck was Benny, who for some reason wasn’t wearing his space suit.

Something was wrong. Something was _very_ wrong. Willing herself into motion again, she gathered her legs under herself and leapt up onto the ship. “Benny? What’s going on?” She froze when she nearly stepped on the discarded space suit, eyes going wide when she saw all the blood.

“We failed,” the spaceman said, voice shaking. “The crew’s all captured, and Jonas- Jonas is-”

Unikitty went very still. “He’s- he’s not _dead_ , is he…?”

Benny swallowed hard. “Not yet.”

Unikitty’s big eyes immediately welled up with tears. “Oh, no. Oh, _Jonas_ -”

“He’s in my stasis pod for now,” Benny interrupted, and she took a shaky breath. That would buy them some time.

“We have to get to work,” the princess said, steeling herself in determination. “There must be _something_ we can do for him!”

“I- I had some ideas, on the way here,” Benny admitted. “You could use the ship for parts, build him a new body- I think he’ll like that-”

“Just me?” Unikitty stared him down in challenge. “Aren’t _you_ a Master Builder, too?”

Benny shifted uncomfortably. “’Kitty, you know what everyone else says-”

“I don’t give a _fig_ what everyone else says.”

“But it doesn’t change the fact that I can only build spaceships! I don’t wanna mess this up for him!”

“You’re helping me, and that’s final.”

~* *~

“And the rest is history,” Benny finished. “I did wind up helping, a little, but it was mostly Unikitty. And as much as he likes to call it a ‘hunk of junk’, he was actually thrilled with the body we’d made for him.”

“What did you do to help keep him alive? Does Unikitty’s magic have something to do with that?”

“We wound up tearing apart my stasis pod and building it into his new body as a life support system. _That’s_ the actual reason why we haven’t been able to build a better one for him- we can’t risk disconnecting him from it to move him, it’ll most likely kill him. And at this point, I think he’s just become attached to it anyway.” Benny grinned. “Sentimental value, and all that.” Bad Cop shook his head.


	3. Dinner

**Dinner**

Benny had been surprised, when this week’s dinner invitation included him as well. For the past month, the Cops’ parents had insisted they have dinner together one night a week, just to spend time with their boys. So now he was fretting, wondering what he should wear, wondering what he should _bring_. Good Cop had chuckled to find him flipping frantically through a recipe book. “Easy, love,” he’d teased. “Just bring _yourself_ , that’s all they ask.”

“But what should I _wear?_ You don’t think the Hawaiian shirts would be too silly, do you-”

“Benny, why is this such a concern?”

“I just- they’re your _parents_ , and B means so much to me, I don’t want them to think I’m- I’m _crazy_ or _obsessed_ or-”

“Ben,” Bad Cop interrupted. “They _met_ you in your spacesuit. It’s a bit of a moot point.” Benny stuck his tongue out at him for that. “Besides, you’ve already made an _excellent_ first impression, they really aren’t going to care.”

So Benny had chosen his favorite, most comfortable non-spacesuit outfit, and decided he’d stop worrying about it. Ma and Pa were such lovely people, really, what was he getting so worked up about? Bad Cop seemed to notice how tense he was, and took his hand, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “What’s going on, Ben?”

“Not that I’m complaining or anything, but I thought Wednesday nights were family night? I mean, I’m not exactly family.”

Bad Cop smirked. “No. You’re just the man that I’m _dating_.”

Benny perked up at that, grinning brightly. “Oh, so you finally told them, did you?”

He blushed at that. “Well, according to them, I can’t stop talking about you, so they said to bring you by this time.”

“Oh, B,” Benny snickered. “You’re so cute, sometimes.” He fell quiet as a thought occurred to him. “It doesn’t bother them that I call you that, does it? That we all still call you Bad Cop? …Does it bother _you?_ ”

Bad Cop gave his hand a gentle squeeze, keeping his eyes on the road. “It did a little, at first. Mostly when the others used it. Coming from you… It felt like more of a genuine nickname. And Mum and Dad… They don’t mind so much. There’s no venom behind it anymore, no hatred attached to it. It’s _just_ a nickname.”

Benny smiled, squeezing back. “I’m glad.”

They finished the drive in silence, though Benny began to bounce once the little house came into view. Bad Cop chuckled, releasing his hand to turn into the driveway and put the car in park. “Come on, you silly thing.” Benny practically leapt out of the car, taking Bad Cop’s hand as they met up at the door. Pa was already there waiting for them, and opened the door to let them in.

“Glad you could make it tonight, Benny,” he welcomed, holding out a hand. Benny grinned and hugged him instead, earning a warm chuckle and a pat on the back.

“Thanks for having me!”

“Come in, come in. Ma’s already got the table set, and supper’s waiting.”

“Ma, it smells amazing!” Benny yelled, and she laughed. Bad Cop smirked and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, guiding him to the dining room. She reached for them as soon as they stepped into the room.

“Benny dear, it’s good to see you again,” she greeted as he hugged her as well. She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for keeping your promise.”

Benny beamed at her. “It wasn’t a hard one to keep.”

“Promise? What promise?” Bad Cop frowned.

“We asked the Master Builders to keep an eye on you. You wouldn’t talk to us, so we hoped you’d open up to them about what happened,” Ma answered without the least bit of shame. “We hoped you’d make some friends, though we certainly weren’t expecting Benny to go and take it a step further.” She looked her son in the eye. “Your friends are some _amazing_ people, to do what they did for you. Don’t you ever let _any_ of them go.”

“We know, Mum,” Bad Cop answered quietly. “We have no intention of it.”

“So when did B finally tell you about us?” Benny asked. Pa chuckled.

“Benny, we knew from the day you all asked us to meet you in that cute little coffee shop. You two were pressed so close together.”

The spaceman blushed, quirking an embarrassed grin at them. “I didn’t realize we were being that obvious. You’re, um. Not mad, or weirded out? That he’s with another guy?”

“Oh, heavens _no_ , dear,” Ma said, taking his hands when he started to fidget. “We knew from the day we found out our boys were dual-born that nothing about their life could ever be considered ‘normal’. We’re just happy that Cary has found someone who honestly _loves_ him and is willing to work with their situation.”

“Not that I still didn’t throw them for a loop when I brought my first boyfriend home,” Good Cop interrupted, grinning. Benny laughed.

“Oh, so you were already forewarned! I see.”

Ma swatted her son’s arm. “It was the _way_ you introduced him to us that was shocking. Incorrigible brat.” Good Cop snickered. “Sit down, boys.”

“Ohh I gotta know this story,” Benny said as he took a seat.

Ma sighed. “Well I say ‘introduced’, but that’s being rather generous. More like Pa and I came home to find the two of them making out on the couch- still fully clothed, thank goodness.”

Benny cackled. “Oh stars, G.”

Good Cop shrugged. “We lost track of time, otherwise we would have been models of perfect behavior by the time they got home.”

“Mhmm,” Ma hummed, thoroughly unconvinced. She took the cover off the serving dish, and Benny was distracted from the topic of conversation.

“Oooh, _roast_.”

Talk was sparse as they ate, not that Benny minded- he was pretty well preoccupied with shoveling as much of Ma’s fantastic cooking into his mouth as he could manage, only stopping when he thought he couldn’t eat another bite. “Oof. I have _got_ to get you and Emmet to meet up. That was _amazing_.”

Ma smiled at him. “Thank you dear, but you really should have saved room for dessert.”

“Aww…”

“Besides, our boys are already working on that.”

“Oh?” Benny leaned forward.

“I overheard Emmet’s comment about family, on our way home,” Bad Cop explained. “And Lucy mentioned he doesn’t have a single family photo in his apartment, not even hidden away somewhere. So I did some investigating, and found a lot of instances where an officer found him left behind somewhere and had to take him home.” Benny’s eyes went wide. “Many of them had remarks along the lines of his parents not seeming to remember they even _had_ a son named Emmet.”

“You’re _kidding_. I know Emmet’s stupidly talented at being invisible, but so well his own _parents_ had no memory of him??”

Bad Cop nodded. “Explains why he’s so self-sufficient, he’s been looking after himself a lot longer than anyone his age should have. From what I found out, he apparently taught himself how to drive using an instruction booklet, got a job, and moved into his apartment on his eighteenth birthday.”

“ _Wow_.” Benny slumped in his seat. “And all the other Master Builders were so ready to dismiss him, too.”

Bad Cop offered him an encouraging smile. “Except you.”

“Still. What exactly does this have to do with him meeting your parents?”

“He’s such a sweet boy, and our sons have told us they already see him as a younger brother,” Pa explained. “We know it’s a bit late to make it all official, but we want to offer him a place in our family.”

“If only we’d taken that job offer in the city proper, we might have been able to do something about it sooner…” Ma lamented.

Benny smiled. “See, and that’s how I _knew_ B couldn’t be the monster everyone else said he was. No way he ever could be, with such awesome parents.” The elder Callaghans blushed in unison, and Bad Cop chuckled, taking Benny’s hand.

“I think I’ll go get that pie now,” Ma said, and hurried into the kitchen. Pa followed her on the premise of ‘helping’.

“I think you just won them over completely,” Bad Cop teased, and Benny giggled.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass them. Stars, but your parents are _precious_.”


	4. Introspection

**Introspection**

Lucy leaned in the bedroom doorway, watching as Emmet focused on buttoning up his shirt, and halfway wondering how long it would take him to notice her standing there, so intent he was upon his task. She smiled to herself; two months ago, she never would have counted herself as _lucky_ to have someone like him in her life. From the moment Vitruvius had taken her in, she _knew_ she was destined for great things, and to have an equally great partner to face life with, someone just as exciting and creative and kickass as herself. She thought she’d found that partner in Bruce- he was handsome, rich, a great Master Builder, and a well-known superhero. Everything she thought she could ever want.

And then life handed her Emmet.

He… wasn’t everything Bruce was. Average height, a little pudgy around the middle, boring brown hair and brown eyes and a smattering of faint freckles that _just_ put him on the ‘cute’ side of plain, no imagination to speak of, very little pain tolerance. Stronger than she’d expected, given that he wasn’t nearly as buff as Bruce, but not altogether unsurprising, considering his job. And even that she’d considered unappealing at first- blue collar? No thanks. Not someone she ever would have spared a second glance, if not for the Piece of Resistance choosing him.

But through their whirlwind adventure, he’d come into his own, and taught her a few things as well. Like how a person’s strengths weren’t always obvious, or _exciting_. Or better yet, how a boyfriend _ought_ to be treating her. Emmet had never shown her anything less than awe and respect, which was more than she could say for her ex, who behaved more as though she was just arm candy to boost his own ego.

Even now, life with Emmet wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was… comfortable. Stable. A constant she never thought she would ever need or want. And he learned fast- he was attentive without being smothering. He provided her with a sense of normalcy and belonging that had been missing in her life for nine years. Overcome with a rush of affection, she crossed the room to wrap her arms around him, startling him. “Oh!” he gasped, quick to return the hug. “Hi! Wow you’re fast, I’m still getting ready!” He beamed at her. “You look _beautiful_.”

She could feel her face heating up. “You _always_ say that, Emmet.”

“And I always mean it.”

Lucy smiled and leaned close to kiss him. “Hurry up, handsome. We don’t want to miss our reservation.” His cheeks darkened, but he grinned brightly at her, and moved to do just that.

Honestly, what had she ever done to deserve him?


	5. Home

**Home**

Vitruvius smiled to himself, watching the hybrid ship as it flew away. Seemed the lessons he’d been trying to teach Master Builders for _generations_ were finally sticking. He didn’t even turn at the approach of the small boat.

“Hello, brother.”

“Ahoy, brother,” Caesar greeted in turn. “You’ve looked better.” Vitruvius finally turned to look at him, nearly rolling his eyes at his twin’s grin.

“Yes, well. Decapitation by frisbee tends to do that to you.”

“And you’re seriously not mad at him for that?”

Vitruvius shrugged. “We’re _eight thousand_ years old, brother. That’s a long time to learn patience and forgiveness.”

“Aye,” Caesar agreed quietly.

“And I don’t know about you, but I am far too happy to finally be _home_ to really care all that much.”

“True.” The retired pirate smiled. “It’s nice to finally use that word and mean it again. Even if _home_ needs a lot of work.”

“They’ll come back, eventually. Atlantis was a center of learning once, it will be again.”

“Aye. Though _I’m_ still mad at him.” Caesar toed at a shell laying on the ground at his feet. “…You won’t be able to stay in this realm anymore. I’ll _miss_ you.”

“You think I’m not going to haunt your crazy ass?” Vitruvius threatened, waving his staff at his brother.

“Get that nasty thing out of my face, where did you even pick it up? You _do_ know that’s a used lollipop stick, right?”

“I’m not going anywhere yet, Caesar. Atlantis may have been restored, but I still have a lot of work to do. They’ll still need my guidance, and my help. The Gateway allowed Alastar and myself to return, but it also allowed other things to pass through.” Caesar shuddered at the implications.

“I don’t envy you in the least.”


	6. Nightmare

**Nightmare**

Sirius grumbled as he was dragged back to consciousness. He’d always been a light sleeper, but after weeks of the soothing silence of the sea, he was having an even more difficult time than he’d expected to adjust to the nighttime sounds of the city.

But the city was relatively silent, tonight. It had to be something else. A whimper caught his attention, and he sat up. That sounded like Benny. He was just shoving back his covers to get up and check on the astronaut when he suddenly started screaming, and Sirius’ heart about leapt into his throat. He scrambled into the spaceman’s bedroom as quickly as his feet would carry him, halfway wondering if someone had snuck into the apartment and was trying to _kill_ his friend. Not that he even knew what he’d do if that _was_ the case, but he’d figure something out.

He slammed the door open to find Benny tangled in his sheets and thrashing, fighting some unseen enemy. Only a nightmare, then, but a _bad_ one, from the looks of it. “Benny! Benny, wake up!” he shouted, reaching to shake the spaceman’s shoulders, and getting socked in the jaw for his efforts. He reeled back, stunned at the force behind the blind punch. Benny screamed something at him then, mostly incoherent, but he thought he caught “not gonna let you hurt them!” somewhere in there. Steeling himself in determination, he climbed up onto the mattress and sat on Benny’s legs, grabbing his wrists and pinning them down as best he could, the way the spaceman was struggling. “WAKE UP!” he screamed into Benny’s ear, and Benny’s eyes snapped open to find Sirius frowning down at him. He was nearly hyperventilating in panic, and Sirius’ expression softened. “Hey, buddy, I don’t know where you were, but you’re _home_ now. You’re safe, okay?”

“G-get off,” Benny demanded, and he hurried to obey, sitting on the edge of the mattress. The tears started almost immediately, and Benny curled in on himself. Sirius bit his lip, not really certain how to help, if he even could. He reached out and carefully put a hand on his shoulder, feeling how badly he was trembling.

“Benny…?”

“Nightmare?” came Bad Cop’s tired voice, startling him, and he glanced over to see the officer standing in the doorway.

“How’d you know?”

“He had one on the ship, too.” Benny tried to launch himself at the cop, but was still halfway trapped in his sheets, and didn’t get far. Bad Cop walked over and silently helped him to untangle himself, letting the astronaut cling to him once he was free.

“I think I’d remember hearing him screaming like that.”

“Metalbeard knows about ‘em,” Benny mumbled into Bad Cop’s shirt. “Must’ve soundproofed the cabins…”

“That would explain why no one else woke up.” He glanced down at the spaceman attached to him, and wrapped his arms around him. “You weren’t this bad last time, though.”

“You woke me up before I got too deep in it.”

“I tried,” Sirius shrugged. “You punched me.”

Benny flinched. “Oh stars, Busy, I’m so _sorry_ -”

“Who were you fighting?”

Benny turned in Bad Cop’s hold to look at him. “What?”

“You were screaming something, all I could understand was ‘not gonna let you hurt them’.” Bad Cop looked intrigued by this new bit of information as well.

“You did say you thought it might be repressed memories. Maybe there’s your answer.”

Benny was silent as that processed. “So… so whatever happened… it wasn’t an _accident_.” He frowned. “I think I need to make a trip to Cape Space tomorrow.”

“I’m going with you,” Bad Cop said. “But for now, we _both_ need sleep.” He nudged Benny back toward the bed, and Sirius stood up.

“You’re okay now?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Benny sighed, crawling back under the covers without fuss. “Sorry if I scared you. And about the punch, I didn’t-”

Sirius waved him off. “It’s _fine_ , Benny. Just tell me what you find out.” Benny gave his back a quizzical look as he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

“What’s that about?” he asked as Bad Cop stretched out beside him.

“Sirius-speak for ‘you really gave me a scare and I want to make sure that whatever happened isn’t going to come back and bite you’,” Bad Cop explained with a smirk. Benny rolled his eyes.

“Stars, you guys are _so weird_. Can’t either of you just up and _say stuff_ like normal human beings?”

“Stuff.”

“Smartass,” Benny huffed, trying to fight down his giggles and remain stern, but the smile refused to be suppressed. Bad Cop chuckled at him, and he jabbed a finger into the cop’s ribs before snuggling against his side, resting his head on Bad Cop’s chest. “…Sorry I woke you.”

“It’s fine, Ben. You can wake me any time you need to. Now _sleep_.”


	7. Accident

**Accident**

They earned quite a few stares as they walked into the Space Corps HQ. A few of them were wary of the tall cop, but most were in awe of the astronaut dressed in blue that floated just a couple steps ahead of him. They’d gotten used to this- Benny was a worldwide hero, after all.

They’d barely made it to the receptionist’s desk before a chorus of “BENNY!” rose up, and he was nearly dog-piled by a group of four in suits of varying colors. Benny laughed at their enthusiasm. “Hey guys! Long time no see!” Bad Cop stood a few paces back, letting him greet his old crewmates and friends. They chattered excitedly for a couple minutes before one of the other astronauts- the one in red- noticed Bad Cop watching them and scowled in his direction.

“What’s _he_ doing here?”

Benny blinked and turned to look at Bad Cop, then back to his friend, raising an eyebrow. “I dunno, Ken, being a supportive boyfriend?” ‘Ken’ spluttered at his blithe response.

“ _Are you out of your mind?!_ Have you forgotten what he did to us for _eight and a half years?!_ ”

“Nah, I haven’t forgotten,” Benny replied, his good cheer bordering on forced. “Play nice and you might find out how much of a teddy bear he actually is.”

“ _Ben_ ,” Bad Cop grumbled, embarrassed, and Benny turned to blow him a kiss.

“…Is he _smiling??_ Oh my God, he’s _smiling_ ,” White gasped.

“Shush, Lenny, you’ll scare him off.” Benny reached back for him. “B, come here, I wanna introduce you to everyone!”

“We’ve met,” Ken ground out as Bad Cop stepped closer to them, taking Benny’s hand. Benny ignored his grumbling.

“Guys, this is my boyfriend, Cary Callaghan. B, this is Ken Reid, Leonard and Jennifer Wright, and Penelope Coleman.”

Bad Cop stared at the two Wrights. “…Are you siblings?”

The pair grinned at that. “We’re cousins, actually,” Jennifer answered. “But we get that a lot.”

“Ben. They don’t look much older than _you_.” Bad Cop turned to him. “Were they stuck in stasis as long as you were?”

“Nnnooooooo…?” Benny drew out, looking uncomfortable.

Ken sighed. “This isn’t a conversation to have in public. Come on, I know a place we can talk.” He led them further into the complex, opening the door to a small conference room and ushering them in. When they were all in, he closed the door and turned to Bad Cop. “If you’re _really_ serious about Benny, you need to know about this.”

“Ken-”

“Benny, he’s going to find out eventually anyway.” He turned his attention back to Bad Cop. “The stasis pods we had were still somewhat experimental. We thought we got all the bugs ironed out so they would function without causing damage, and to an extent we did- all the trial runs gave us positive results. What we didn’t know was that we made them to work a little _too_ well. The four of us were in stasis for less than twenty-four _hours_ , and you can see for yourself the results of _that_. We’ve aged since, but _very_ slowly. With Benny having been under for twenty or so _years_ …” Ken shrugged. “We’re the reason they scrapped the cryostasis project.”

“Ben, why didn’t you say anything…?”

Benny hugged himself, staring resolutely at the floor. “How exactly do you _start_ that conversation? ‘Oh, by the way, I might effectively be immortal, so you might wanna think twice about getting involved with me’?” He didn’t fight when Bad Cop pulled him close, and sniffled when a kiss was pressed to his curls.

“Just so long as you don’t get bored of this old man.”

“ _As if_.” He wrapped his arms around Bad Cop, holding on tight.

Ken shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking a little uncomfortable at their open affection. “Okay, _maybe_ I can see why you like him, now,” he admitted, and Benny smirked into Bad Cop’s shirt.

“You guys are _so cute_ ,” Jennifer gushed. “So now that we got _that_ angst-fest out of the way- what brings you here?”

“Oh!” Benny gasped, and Bad Cop let go of him as he turned back to his friends. “That’s right! I had a nightmare last night.”

“…Okay?”

“Okay so Busy’s staying with me until he gets back on his own feet, so I kinda woke him up with my screaming and I guess I punched him-”

“Nice one,” Lenny snickered.

“-anyway I screamed something at him about not letting _something_ hurt you guys so we thought maybe my issue is repressed memories and came to see if you guys might know something, or if there might be anything in the records about what happened before and during our last launch, cause I’m _sure_ you would have brought me up to date if something _did_ happen, right?” He stared them down. They stared back.

“…Benny, I don’t know what you were dreaming about, but _nothing happened_ ,” Penelope said slowly. “It really was just an accident with some space debris. Believe me, we thought to check the records too, to see if there was something wrong with the ship before we launched. They’re clean.”

“But…” Benny slumped.

“Benny, sweetie, you always _did_ have an overactive imagination,” Jennifer sighed.

“You wouldn’t be trying to _hide_ something from him, would you?” Bad Cop growled, glaring at them suspiciously.

Lenny shook his head. “Scout’s honor,” he promised. “All our memories are a little messed up from shortly before the accident, probably from the stasis, so we wanted to look into it too. That was all we found. If there was trouble, we wouldn’t hide it from him. Benny’s _family_.”

Benny leaned back against Bad Cop, unable to hide his disappointment. “Thanks anyway, guys,” he said quietly. “I think I’m gonna go check the records anyway- not that I think you _would_ lie to me, I just. I need to see it with my own eyes.”

Ken nodded. “Understandable.” The pair left the conference room without a word, Bad Cop’s arm around Benny. Lenny drifted up to his side, twining his fingers with Ken’s.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I just hate that we don’t have any answers for him. Not the ones he wants, anyway.”

“He’ll find them,” Penelope decided. “If anyone’s determined enough to dig them up, it’s him. And I can’t imagine anyone better to help him than Bad Cop. It’s not us, but _somebody_ is definitely hiding _something_.”


	8. Music

**Music**

_Do we still have my keyboard?_

Bad Cop paused at the door, halfway to putting his key in the lock. “What?”

_I said, do we-_

“I heard you the first time,” Bad Cop grumbled. “That was just a really random question.” Good Cop sent a wave of amusement at him.

_So do we?_

He unlocked the door and pushed it open. “You haven’t touched that thing in almost ten years.”

_Cary…_

“I’m sure it’s still in the hall closet somewhere,” Bad Cop answered, rolling his eyes. “Seriously, why the sudden interest?”

 _I’ve always missed it, but I always put it off because we never had_ time. _Now that we’re not hunting Master Builders anymore, I want to play again._

That got the attention of their drowsing triplet. _yoU plAy piaNo?!_

Bad Cop sighed and resigned himself to digging the thing out of storage. As if he could ever deny his brothers anything.

 _You should find your violin, get some practice in while we still have all these early shifts! I bet Benny would_ love _to hear you play._

_ I wanNa hear yOu plaY! PleeeaaAAaaaase? _

“And it’s been even longer than ten years since I last _looked_ at it.” He started hauling boxes out of the way.

 _Hence why I said you should practice_ now _, while we have time before Benny gets home and you embarrass yourself. I can wait until after, I don’t mind him hearing my awful playing while I get the hang of it again._

Bad Cop paused in his efforts, folding his arms across his chest. “I _can_ just leave this thing in here.”

Good Cop switched out, smirking. “Or I can just get it out myself.”

**_Ass._ **

“Don’t swear in front of Keelan.” Keelan’s answer was only to giggle at them. Good Cop finished the task of digging his keyboard out from where it was buried in the back of the closet, then went on the hunt for Bad Cop’s violin.

**_Alastar, can you just drop it…_ **

“Nope.”

**_Why is this so important to you?_ **

“Because we spent nearly _ten years_ of our lives at Business’s beck and call, with barely enough time to _sleep_ or recover from injuries, let alone unwind and just enjoy the little things. Ah ha!” He found the case shoved in the back corner on the top shelf in their closet, and grabbed the handle.

**_You still didn’t let that stop you before._ **

“Maybe not, but _you_ did. I _won’t_ see you destroy yourself like that again.”

**_…So you’re going to_ ** **make _me take up the violin again._**

Good Cop grinned. “You can’t tell me you haven’t missed playing, too. I could _feel_ your excitement when I found it, you dork.”

Bad Cop switched out again, staring down at the case in his hands. It almost felt like finding a missing part of himself, again. “…I want to apologize ahead of time for the godawful _noise_ I’m about to make,” he said as he opened the case and pulled the instrument out, working on getting it tuned again.


	9. Research

**Research**

Benny led the way to the archives, nowhere near his usual buoyant self. Bad Cop took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Benny gave him an appreciative smile and squeezed back, but still didn’t speak. Bad Cop didn’t push. Benny would perk up again when he was darn well ready.

They reached the archives, and Bad Cop followed Benny back to where the records of his last flight would most likely be kept. As Benny went through the microfilm, Bad Cop used the computer to look it up. When they returned to Bricksburg, he’d been curious to know more about the accident, but hadn’t wanted to outright ask Benny when it was obviously still such a sensitive subject. The media had said pretty much the same thing as the other astronauts- that a bit of space debris had hit their ship, nearly destroying it. His money was on _that_ being the point at which Benny actually became a Master Builder, to be able to save his crewmates’ lives, as he knew for a fact Ken and Lenny _trained_ to become Master Builders themselves, at a later date. Possibly inspired by the accident they couldn’t clearly remember.

…He _really_ owed those two an apology.

 _I’m surprised we didn’t think of that sooner_ , Alastar chimed in.

**_We didn’t care to then._ **

Bad Cop returned his focus to the computer screen, carefully reading through the logs. They spent nearly an hour in silence before a thought popped into his head.

“Ben, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, B?” Benny turned to look at him.

“Normally you’re reluctant to tell people we’re dating- which I get,” he cut Benny off as Benny opened his mouth to protest. “I was too young to really understand it at the time, but Mum and Dad explained how the world really wasn’t so kind to people like you and me, back then.”

“But- but it’s not like that now, I shouldn’t-”

“It’s not,” Bad Cop agreed. “But you’ve only been a part of it again for several months, it’s a change you’re still getting used to. And I don’t hold that against you, Ben. But that’s not what’s got me curious.” Benny relaxed, tilting his head. “You didn’t even hesitate to tell your old crewmates.”

Benny smiled a bit. “Yeah. Lenny _meant_ it when he said we’re family. They’ve known for a long time. And they’re not super obvious about it, but Ken and Lenny are husbands, they’ve been together since they were in high school.”

“Oh.” Bad Cop sounded surprised. “That wasn’t in their records.”

Benny smirked. “It wouldn’t be. They didn’t make it all official until _after_ Taco Tuesday. By the time Busy made it legal world-wide, they’d already been registered as Master Builders.”

“That makes sense. How did they find out?”

“Lenny, uh.” Benny giggled. “Lenny kinda caught me making eyes at Ken when we first met.”

“Oh dear lord.”

“Thankfully, he was just amused, sat me down and explained all nice and calm that Ken was most definitely off limits. Ken thought it was kinda cute, and I guess it was more hero-worship than anything, he was just _so cool_ , and a spaceship pilot!! He was only a few years older than me, but he was already kind of a big shot around here.” Bad Cop chuckled.

“Yes, I can definitely see you getting stars in your eyes, meeting an actual _spaceship pilot_.”

“Yeah, poke fun.”

“It’s a very adorable mental image.” Benny smiled and climbed into his lap to hug him.

“And you all thought I was _kidding_ when I said you’re a teddy bear.” He pecked Bad Cop’s lips. “So did anything unusual come up?”

“Well…”

“You found something??”

“We’re not sure,” Bad Cop admitted. “But we went further back in the records of your missions- you were actually on _three_. The others said only their short-term memory was affected, but this other mission happened some _months_ before the accident.”

“I forgot an _entire mission?!_ ” Benny wailed.

“That’s what didn’t add up. There’s nothing remarkable in the records about it, but I can’t help but think your memory loss wasn’t the result of oxygen deprivation. I think your memory may have been tampered with.”

“But- _why??_ If it was just a routine flight, then there’d be nothing to hide!”

“Alastar says he thinks it reads like it’s been censored.”

Benny stilled at that. “…We gotta go talk to my crew again.”

“We do.”


	10. Orphan

**Orphan**

“So we got an invitation to Gotham,” Lucy said the moment the whole crew was settled into their booth. It was only their second Tuesday morning gathering at The Coffee Chain, but it seemed like it was already well on its way to becoming a tradition for them.

“From _Batman?_ ” Benny asked, incredulous.

“More like from his butler,” Lucy corrected with a smirk. “Bruce and I may have broken up, but I kept in touch with Alfred, I’ve always adored him. Anyway, he thinks Bruce has turned over a new leaf, and has extended an invitation to our group as a whole to come visit them at Wayne Manor, and meet Bruce’s new son.”

That gave Emmet pause. “…Batman has a kid?”

Lucy nodded. “Seems he adopted a young boy named Dick Grayson, while we were out on our voyage. Alfred included a picture of him.” She brought it up on her phone and passed it around.

“Aww he’s adorable!” Unikitty cooed.

“Someone’s a proud grandpa,” Bad Cop chuckled upon seeing the photo- it was clearly a selfie Dick had taken, and included the butler.

“You’re awfully quiet, babe,” Lucy noted.

“I think my opinion of him just went back up a few notches,” Emmet replied. Lucy took his hand, squeezing it gently. They’d had that particular conversation long ago, before they even knew anything had been wrong with Bad Cop. For all his naivety, Emmet was surprisingly astute when it came to people, and though he’d been so excited to meet his childhood hero at first, he’d also been very quick to revise his opinion and declare Bruce ‘the worst’. Lucy had listened to him rant for nearly an hour about how all his philanthropy was just a publicity stunt to cover how conceited he actually was in person. And really, she hadn’t been able to argue with that- she’d seen up close how his ‘heroic’ acts were more to further his own glory than because it was the right thing to do.

It helped that this was also a topic particularly close to Emmet’s heart- though he’d never actually been an orphan himself, he’d very nearly found himself placed in the system a number of times, according to Bad Cop’s investigations. And that Bruce was finally able to get over himself and be a _real_ hero to a kid in need…

She really hoped Alfred was right about him _finally_ starting to grow up.

“Did Alfred happen to give a date?” Benny asked.

“Yeah, I think he was planning on Sunday evening.”

“That sounds doable,” Sirius said. Lucy glanced around the table, getting various murmurs or nods of agreement, and typed up their response.


	11. Dick

**Dick**

They were in awe of the grand mansion when they drove up to it. “How can three people possibly need this much space?” Emmet wondered.

“Just to show off,” Sirius answered. “Comes with having a lot of money.”

“Seems like a waste to me,” Emmet said, wrinkling his nose. Alastar chuckled.

“I think he said his grandparents built it,” Lucy explained. “He thinks it’s too much space too- goodness knows Alfred’s had a few things to say about its upkeep- but it’s been in the Wayne family for three generations now. Going on four, it looks like.”

“At least we know he’ll have room for all of us at the table,” Benny quipped. They climbed out of the limo, and were greeted by Alfred.

“I’m so pleased you all could make it,” he told them. “Please, come inside. Master Dick is very eager to meet you all.” They’d barely made it through the doors before the boy ran up to them, all excitement and energy.

“Ohmygosh you’re heeeeeere!”

“Hi~!” Unikitty chirped, and he squealed.

“I saw you all on tv this summer! Did you really help Dad save the world??”

“We did!” Lucy said, reaching an arm across Emmet’s shoulders. “And this is Emmet, The Special!” He blushed and grinned as Dick gasped in delight.

“Woooow, The Special... You’re almost as cool as Dad!”

Emmet blinked at that. “You really think I’m cool?”

“Yeah!”

 _“Ohmygosh, Lucy,”_ Emmet gasped, turning to his girlfriend with stars in his eyes. “He thinks I’m cool!” She giggled and kissed his cheek.

“And you’re Lucy, and you’re Unikitty, and you’re Captain Metalbeard, and you’re Benny!” Dick bounced in excitement, but paused when he got to Sirius and Good Cop. Sirius sighed at the somewhat wary look the kid was giving him.

“Oh, go ahead and say it…”

“You’re really a good guy now??”

Good Cop folded his arms across his chest, giving his employer a smirk as Sirius startled. That wasn’t what he’d been expecting. “Uh. Yeah, I am. I promise, no more hunting Master Builders or trying to end the world or anything.”

“Okay! That’s good.” Dick looked up at Good Cop. “I don’t think I know you.”

“My name’s Alastar,” he replied. “A lot of people call me Good Cop.”

“Whooaaaa, I like your accent!” Lucy caught the look on Benny’s face and elbowed him in the ribs before he could make a remark. “Dad told me about Bad Cop- is he your brother?”

“He’s my triplet!” Good Cop confirmed. “His real name is Cary. We’re dual-born, so he’s actually here too! You’ll get to meet him at some point tonight, I promise. Just as soon as he decides to stop being a grump.”

“Yeah, I can imagine he’s not too keen on seeing Bruce again, after last time,” Emmet muttered.

“You’re _triplets??_ Who’s your other brother??”

“His name is Keelan, but he’s very shy. It might be a while before you get to meet him.”

“Oh, that’s okay! I won’t push.”

Good Cop beamed at him. “That’s very sweet of you.”

“Come on, let’s go eat now! Grandpa’s got the table all set and everything already!” Lucy grinned, catching the look on Alfred’s face when Dick called him Grandpa, and followed the boy into the dining room with the others.


	12. Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dumb idea is dumb but it made me giggle so I had to share. C:

**Flight**

Emmet tilted his head as he watched Bad Cop and Benny approach their booth, drinks in hand, the spaceman floating along behind the cop. He couldn’t believe it had never occurred to him to ask before now. “I’ve been wondering,” he said, “how do you float like that, Benny?”

Benny blinked at him as the question processed (it was still fairly early, after all), and just as he opened his mouth to respond, Bad Cop beat him to the punch.

“It’s fairly simple really, you just throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

The shop was quiet for a moment, everyone still except for Bad Cop, as he slid into the booth. An amused snort from Larry broke the spell. Benny’s iced hot chocolate floated beside him as he doubled over, cackling in absolute amusement and delight. Lucy stared at him, flabbergasted. Emmet grinned at Benny’s humor, then just looked confused.

“I don’t get it.”

“What the hell, you _complete and utter dork_ HOW ARE YOU KEEPING A STRAIGHT FACE,” Lucy yelled as Bad Cop calmly sipped his coffee.

“So that’s _not_ actually how you float?”

“Oh stars,” Benny wheezed. “How have I failed to introduce you to Hitchhiker’s Guide??”

“Ben, you might want to catch your drink before it falls.”

Benny started giggling again as he grabbed his cup. “Oh man, B, perfect delivery there.” He grinned as he snuggled up close to Bad Cop’s side, the officer finally smirking in satisfaction. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”


	13. Barbara

**Barbara**

Good Cop had barely made it through the door when he paused, spotting the pair sitting at the table. Metalbeard glanced down at him. “Ye be alright, mate?”

“I’ll get back to you on that,” he squeaked out when the woman sitting with Bruce stood up and marched over with purpose.

 _“Callaghan!”_ she barked, and he rolled with her right hook. Dick stared, eyes wide with shock.

“…Hi, Barbara,” Good Cop greeted, gingerly touching his jaw. “You still hit as hard as ever. _Ow_.”

“I’ve never seen Miss Barbara get that mad before,” Dick said quietly.

“Good, I hope it hurts! I can’t believe the two of you, getting in with the likes of President Business! I thought you were better than that! Do you have any idea how much it broke my heart, to hear the things you were doing? Cary, especially! And then _you died_ …”

His shoulders slumped when he caught sight of the tears in her eyes. “Barbara…”

“Don’t,” she cut him off, taking a step back before he could hug her. “I know things are going better now, and I’m glad they managed to bring you back, but I’m not ready to forgive either of you yet.” She walked back to the table. “I’m sorry Bruce, I don’t think I can stay after all.”

Benny drifted over to Good Cop’s side. “Old girlfriend, I’m guessing?”

Good Cop smiled a bit at that. “No, we never dated. But she was a _very_ dear friend of ours. We attended Harvard for Police together, and there’s no one else in the world we would have rather lost Top of the Class to.”

“Miss Barbara, do you really have to go?” Dick pleaded as she slid her jacket back on and grabbed her purse. Bruce was too stunned to protest, too caught off guard that _Barbara_ and _Bad Cop_ had history together.

“Allow me to escort you out,” Alfred said.

“Oh Alfred, you don’t have to do that-”

“I insist,” he interrupted. “Please, have a seat,” he said to their guests. “I’ll return shortly.”

Barbara sighed as the door was shut behind them. “Are you going to lecture me?”

“My dear, I know you well enough by now to know that once you set your mind to something, the only one who can change it is you. Actually, I wanted to apologize- I should have told you who was coming tonight, perhaps then it wouldn’t have been such a shock.”

“…That was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, wasn’t it?”

Alfred allowed a small smile. “I’m afraid it was. Talk to me, Barbara, I’m listening. Maybe it will help.”

She wrapped her arms around herself. “They were the closest thing I had to brothers, Alfred, I cared for them very deeply. They never treated me like I shouldn’t be there just because I was a girl, or like the only reason I _was_ there was because my dad was the _Commissioner of Gotham_. It took me wiping the floors with everyone else in our class to earn their respect, but not the Callaghans.” She wiped her eyes. “We were partners in everything, and I missed them so much when they went back to Bricksburg. We kept in touch as much as we could, but after a couple years, I lost contact with them. I didn’t think much of it at first- I’d become the Commissioner for Bludhaven, and I figured they were just as busy in Bricksburg. But then I started hearing stories from Master Builders, and though no one seemed to know their actual names, some of the details… It was definitely their style. To hear the atrocities that _actual teddy bear Cary Callaghan_ was committing… I knew he had a bit of a problem with his temper, but I never thought he’d let himself get so carried away with it, or that _Alastar_ would let him. I thought I knew them better than that, I thought for sure they’d realize they were wrong and quit, but for them to stay with Business for so long…”

“Perhaps there were extenuating circumstances we don’t know of yet,” Alfred suggested. “You should speak with them. When you’ve calmed down. I won’t ask you stay if you really have your heart set on leaving.”

Barbara gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you Alfred, that did help. But I still think I should go home, it’s a lot to process.”

“I understand. Have a good evening, Miss Gordon, and I do hope things work out for you.”


	14. Chilled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar over on Tumblr. :D

**Chilled**

“Beeeeeeee,” Benny whined the moment he trudged through the door. “Make the cold go away!” Cary looked up from his book and crooked an eyebrow at Benny, watching as he peeled off layers that were apparently unsuccessful in keeping out the chill wind.

“I can hardly control the weather, Ben.”

“No, but you _are_ a ridiculous human furnace,” Benny shot back as he pulled off his boots and chucked them onto the mat. Finally free from the restrictive layers, he dove onto the couch beside Cary and yanked the blanket around himself, snuggling close.

“ _Christ_ ,” Cary murmured. “You’re an icicle.”

“I told you!” Benny sulked as he thumped his head against Cary’s shoulder. The cop sighed and wrapped an arm around his partner, sharing body heat until he felt Benny stop shivering. “I didn’t think Bricksburg ever got _this_ cold.”

“Not usually,” Cary agreed. “They have been calling for lower temps and a lot of snow this year, though. It happens on occasion.”

“Oooh. Snow days.” Cary chuckled at him. “That looks like an interesting book. Read to me?”

“As you wish,” he agreed, turning back to the beginning. Benny closed his eyes, losing himself in the sound of Cary’s voice.


	15. Decorations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Decorations**

It was predictably pandemonium in the Unikingdom Royal Household.

More than a thousand boxes had come out of storage and were scattered about the palace in various states of unpacking. The kitchen looked like one of the good doctor’s baking experiments had exploded (and it likely had, if the two young royals had their paws in it). The halls were filled with excited shrieking and babbling, and in some places discarded tinsel, Christmas music being blasted at full volume. Needles from at least half a dozen trees littered the tiled floor in the foyer. The staff were all hiding. Even Richard had declared it was his day off, and no one had seen him since.

Kingsley sighed as he took in the disaster that was their home. “ _Every year_ , Queenie,” he muttered.

“Oh, let them have their fun, dear,” Queenie chirped back, giving her mate’s cheek a lick. “You know the end results are always worth the mayhem. Unikitty always does such a fantastic job!”

 _“THANKS MOM!”_ said princess screamed back.

“I just wish they wouldn’t terrorize the staff while they’re at it,” Kingsley continued. “Is it too much to ask to at least keep the kitchen in one piece? Amalie hardly needs ‘help’.”

_“Oh no! Puppycorn, grab that before it falls down the stairs!”_

_“I got it! I got it!”_

_Crunch._

_“…I don’t got it.”_

“If I recall correctly,” Queenie said, “you were worse than both our children _combined_ , when we were their age. So you really only have yourself to blame.”

“Don’t remind me…”

_“Ack! Hawkodile, watch out for those lights-!”_


	16. Carols

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Carols**

Lucy huffed to herself as she marched alongside Emmet, wondering why he’d decided to _walk_ to The Coffee Chain instead of driving, when the wind was so bitter cold. She was bundled up in a puffy knee-length coat, hood pulled tight over her head, and the most he had on was a jacket that wasn’t all that heavy. She knew he tended to run on the warm side, but this was honestly ridiculous-

“How are you not _freezing?_ ”

_“The snow is snowing, the wind is blowing, but I can weather the storm! What do I care how much it may storm? I’ve got my love to keep me warm~”_

Lucy blinked, staring at him as he continued, completely dumbstruck. That… wasn’t the answer she was expecting. She started giggling, even as she turned bright red in embarrassment at her boyfriend serenading her in the middle of the sidewalk. “Oh my gosh Emmet, _stop_ -”

_“Off with my overcoat, off with my glove- I need no overcoat, I’m burning with love! My heart’s on fire, the flames grows higher, so I will weather the storm! What do I care how much it may storm, I’ve got my love to keep me warm!”_

She started wheezing, clutching at her sides as Emmet grinned at her. “You are ridiculous, I _can’t_ with you-”

“Are you guys going caroling?” They both paused to look at the woman that had stopped to speak to them. “It’s a bit early for that yet, isn’t it?”

Lucy caught the light in Emmet’s eyes, and fought the urge to roll her own in fond exasperation. Of course he would take that as a suggestion, and run as far with it as he could.

“Oh! Oh Lucy, we should do that! It’ll be _so much fun!_ ”

“Larry’s first, babe,” she compromised, kissing his cheek. “I need something hot to drink if we’re gonna be out in this weather for a while.”

“We can start there! We’ll sing for _all_ the shops! I wonder if we can get anyone else to join us??”

“Why don’t we ask when we _get to Larry’s_ , you great goose,” she laughed. “I’m sure _someone_ will like the idea.”

“Yes! My first caroling trip ever!!” Lucy started laughing again as Emmet began belting out Deck The Halls as loudly as he could manage while remaining on key (which was still impressively loud- damn, but her man could _sing_ ). She looped her arm through his, joining him once she’d caught her breath enough to do so. By the time they reached Larry’s coffee shop, they’d already picked up a sizeable group. Despite the one lady’s comment that it was “too early yet”, it seemed plenty of people were already enthusiastic about the upcoming holiday. Emmet was beaming in joy as they entered the coffee shop, still singing.

Larry was so impressed, he offered all the carolers free drinks.


	17. Snowflakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Snowflakes**

Nora sat out in the sunroom, bundled up in her favorite afghan and sipping a mug of piping hot coffee. She could still faintly hear the television as Keelan watched the Christmas classics his brothers had favored as children, but otherwise the world felt so quiet, so still. The door slid open and shut once more, and she smiled as Daniel joined her on the worn-out old sofa.

It was the first snow of the season. The beginnings of a blizzard the forecast had been calling for, really, one that promised to dump several feet of snow on them overnight. They’d likely have to call their boys for help, if they needed to get out for any reason, but for now they enjoyed the peace the snowfall brought. “Has he noticed the snow yet?” she asked, voice quiet to preserve the serenity of the evening- and to keep from being overheard by their youngest.

“Not yet,” Daniel chuckled softly. “He’s pretty well distracted by Christmas cartoons.”

“Good, that will be quite the surprise for him in the morning then. If he’s anything like his brothers…”

“You’d think Christmas came early, as excited as those boys got.” Nora smiled fondly at the memory. “Not a single square inch of the yard would survive.”

“I do miss those days,” she sighed softly. “They were so innocent, then…”

Daniel leaned over to kiss his wife’s head. “Even despite everything, they’ve still turned out to be good men. I’m proud of them.”

She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder and slipping her hand into his. “So am I, Danny. So am I.”


	18. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Family**

Daniel had been surprised to receive the phone call so early in the morning- their boys were coming to visit, and bringing their friends with them. Apparently Keelan had woken his brothers with his excitement.

The first thing Cary had done upon arrival was retrieve the show shovel from the shed and clear the entire front walkway and the driveway. Daniel had tried to protest- it wasn’t really necessary, barring any emergencies, they had been prepared for the storm- but he was grateful nonetheless. Alastar had wasted no time in getting Keelan as bundled up as the rest of them and dragging him into the back yard to play.

The sight of a group of grown adults, ranging from twenty to thirty-six, and one unicorn-cat, horsing around in the snow and laughing like they were all ten years old again warmed his heart. Nora simply smiled and set about baking cookies.

Getting to see Lucy tackle Cary into a snowdrift and crow her triumph was just icing on the cake.

As the sun began to set they trudged back inside, exhausted and soaked and chilled to the bone but cheerful. Snowsuits and boots and gloves were stripped off and dropped in the mudroom. There was an explosion of laughter and shouting as Unikitty shook the melted snow from her fur like a dog.

The war had been devastating, they were told, between mouthfuls of chocolate chip cookies. Heavy casualties. Not a single square inch of the yard survived.

“Oh,” Nora said, pausing in the kitchen doorway with her tray of hot chocolate. It had been quiet for a while, she’d noticed, but she’d thought they were all simply absorbed in the movie. Daniel came up behind her to see what it was, and chuckled softly. They were all practically piled on top of each other, sprawled out on the sofa that was barely big enough for the triplets as it was, fast asleep, Unikitty curled up on her towel at their feet. “We should get a picture, don’t you think?” she whispered, smiling. “I think this will be the best one of _all_ of our kids that we’re ever going to get.”


	19. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Reunion**

They stepped into the little café, shaking off the cold and taking in the cozy atmosphere. They could see why Barbara had chosen this place to have their ‘discussion’; it was mostly empty, at this time of day, and quiet. The coffee smelled pretty good, too. They ordered their drinks- Alastar got something ridiculously sweet, as usual, and Cary got a black coffee- and joined Barbara at her booth toward the back.

“Gosh, this is so weird,” she murmured when they approached. “Bruce told me what happened, but it’s quite another thing to actually see it for myself.”

“How do you think we feel?” Alastar quipped. “We’re still getting the hang of this ourselves.”

“So what did you call us out here for? We didn’t think you’d want anything to do with us again.”

“I wanted to apologize for what happened that night, that was uncalled for-”

“No it wasn’t,” Cary interrupted. “We’ve done more than enough over the years to have deserved that.”

“Still, that was…” She sighed. “Bruce must be rubbing off on me, I don’t usually get like that.”

Alastar took a sip of his latte, and grimaced at how hot it was. “You haven’t been beating yourself up over it this whole time, have you? Barbara, it’s forgiven and forgotten. Really, it’s okay.” He smiled. “It stopped hurting after a few minutes, really. But that can’t be the only reason you asked us to come here. You must have so many questions.”

“I do,” she agreed. “But the one I want to ask most is just… why? Why did you start working for him? Why did you _stay_ with him? Surely you knew what he was doing was wrong-”

“We did,” Alastar said softly. “But it didn’t start out that way. He honestly had good intentions. We know you prefer diplomacy and compassion, but talking only works if the people you’re talking to are willing to _listen_. The people tried, _we_ tried, but the Master Builders wouldn’t pay anyone any heed. It was the only way we could think of to _make_ them listen. We stayed because… Well, when Sir found the Kragle, it was like something had come loose, inside his mind. He began plotting not just to use it on the buildings in the city, but on the Master Builders as well. Then that became using it on the entire world. He was our friend, and we tried so hard to rein him in, bring him back down to the ground. Our efforts only gained tiny successes, but we shudder to think how much _worse_ things could have been if we had quit. We were so tempted to, so many times. Especially after he found out _we_ were Master Builders. Sort of.”

Barbara stared at them. “You’re… Darn it, you guys, why didn’t you _tell_ me? And you still went through with it all!”

Cary huffed at her. “We didn’t tell you because there was nothing _to_ tell. We had the capacity for it, but not the formal training.  Mum and Dad offered to find us a mentor, but seeing how all the other Master Builders in training behaved, we wanted nothing to do with it. So we practiced on our own. It’s only recently that we’ve gotten actual guidance.”

“Is that why Business erased Alastar?”

Cary winced. “…Halfway. The other half being because Emmet escaped with the Piece of Resistance. Though I don’t think Sirius realized it was because we _allowed_ it to happen, he just blamed it on ‘my good side making me soft’.” He snorted.

“He didn’t know you well enough to know better after _ten years?_ ”

“We told you he had a screw loose. I don’t think he even saw us as people, after he found out. We got treated just like the robots.”

“…And now?”

“He’s sane, if that’s what you’re asking,” Alastar answered. “Emmet got him started down that path, but it’s taken some work to get him… _almost_ back to normal. We can’t make it so the last eight and a half years never happened, after all. Those scars are going to last.”

“For all of you, I imagine,” Barbara said softly. Cary nodded, toying with the cardboard sleeve around his cup. “I missed you guys, I really did. And I worried about you all the time.” She reached across the table, taking their hands. “I’m so glad you’ve finally been able to become the amazing cops I always knew you would be. I’ve been keeping an eye on Bricksburg; you two have been doing a lot of good there.”

Cary looked away with a grunt, face turning red. “We hardly need you to babysit us,” Alastar teased, squeezing her hand in return, and sobered up once more. “What do you think? Can we be friends again?”

“I think so,” she said. She smirked. “And maybe you two can help me with wrangling certain wayward superheroes when they get out of hand.” Alastar laughed. “Although Bruce tells me he can take you, Cary. He says he’s done it before.”

Cary snorted at that. “It won’t happen again. He got _lucky_ \- that was only a few hours after I’d lost Alastar, after all.”

“He failed to mention _that_.”

“He didn’t know. Or care to put two and two together afterward.” Alastar scooted closer to his brother, pressing their sides together. He relaxed as Cary leaned back against him. “It _won’t_ happen again.”


	20. Fireplace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Fireplace**

Barbara sat in front of the grand fireplace with Bruce, enjoying a mug of hot chocolate and the warmth of the flames. If Bricksburg was getting buried this year, Gotham was getting absolutely _pummeled_. The power to her apartment building had been knocked out, and then a few hours later the backup generator gave up the ghost, trying to keep up with the high demands. She’d simply given up and packed her toiletries and enough clothes for a few days, and told Bruce in no uncertain terms that she would be staying over for a while. He hadn’t protested, of course, and Dick was absolutely _delighted_.

“I wasn’t expecting to see the place decorated,” she admitted. “Doesn’t really seem your style.”

“It’s not,” Bruce agreed, rolling his eyes. “It’s the kid’s. Kind of hard to say no when he’s that excited about his first Christmas with a family, though. And it’s… nice. I’d forgotten what that’s like.”

Barbara smiled fondly. “He is such a sweet boy. And he’s been doing you a world of good too, Mister Dark And Brooding. You could use some sunshine in your life.”

“Sunshine is overrated. Gives you skin cancer.” She laughed. “I’ve been thinking…” he continued.

“Uh oh. That’s dangerous.”

“I’m doing the best that I can, but Dick still needs a mother.”

Her mirth died away at that. “Is this a weird, roundabout way of asking me to marry you?”

Bruce snorted at that. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Babs. Well. Maybe I would, you’re a damn _amazing_ woman, but I know better than to actually _ask_.” He shrugged. “We’re already an unconventional family as it is, and he absolutely adores you. Just figured, you know. It’d make sense to ask if you’re up for it.”

Barbara stared down into her mug, thinking. “It would be kind of nice, to have someone call me ‘mom’,” she said after a minute. “And I adore him, too. I’d hate to disappoint him.”

“So. Co-adopters?”

“I thought you were already ‘sharing custody’,” she said with a smirk. Bruce threw his head back and laughed at the unexpected jab. “But yes. I’ll talk to him in the morning.”


	21. Hospital

**Hospital**

Lucy sat up in the bed, alone in her room for once. She’d been deemed well enough to not constantly be bombarded with doctors and nurses. She’d heard things, when they thought she was unconscious or sleeping or just too out of it to pay attention.

Smoke inhalation.

Repressed memories.

Orphan.

She hadn’t been given any privacy to properly grieve yet. She wasn’t quite sure if it had even really sunk in. She just felt numb.

The door opened to admit a stranger- an old man, his hair and beard as white as the robes he wore. He looked like a wizard, or a priest of some sort. _Wizard_ , she decided, when she got a closer look at the staff he carried. He had warm, kind eyes, and a gentle smile, and she found herself immediately trusting him. “Who are you?”

“My name is Vitruvius,” he introduced himself, and her eyes went wide. “Your parents asked me to be your mentor.”

“Yeah,” she murmured. “I remember.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your family.” She didn’t respond. “The doctors say you’re well enough to be released now. I brought some of your clothes for you.” He held out a bag, and she took it, peering inside. She sucked in a breath, taking in all the bright, cheerful colors.

She needed some black.

“Once you’re ready, we can go,” he continued. Lucy simply nodded. Vitruvius let himself out without another word, leaving her to her thoughts. With a sigh she picked out the outfit she found the least offensive to her senses and got dressed, then made her way out into the hallway where the wizard still waited for her. “Are you ready, my child?” he asked.

“Yes.”


	22. Plotting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Plotting**

“So this is what I was thinking,” Emmet started once everyone had crowded into their usual booth, minus President Business. This little ‘meeting’ was mostly about him, after all. “We should have a Christmas party! That way we’ll all be around when they meet, and if it doesn’t go well, we can do damage control pretty easily.”

“Are you really sure it’s a good idea to get them together?” Cary asked, doubtful. “Neither one of them needs much encouragement to slip back into their ‘evil’ ways.”

“Oh, pfft,” Emmet said, waving him off. “It’ll be fine. I talked to Risky. It’s not like he was really out to hurt us, or end the world or anything, all he really wanted was some attention. And he’s really eager to see Sirius again, I’m sure he’ll be on his best behavior.”

“But where should we have the party?” Lucy asked. “It’s not like any of our apartments are really big enough to hold that many people, and Sirius’ penthouse wouldn’t be the greatest idea either, in the event things don’t go well between them. And I doubt either one of them is going to be all that willing to travel to another realm.”

“Well. Mum and Dad _have_ been saying they want to have ‘all the kids’ over at some point for the holiday,” Alastar piped up. “I’ll give them a call and find out if they’ll be okay with letting us have it there. There’ll be room enough for all of us.”

“Ohh I like that idea!” Emmet said.

“Mum and Dad might not,” Cary reminded.

“Thus why I’m _asking_ first,” Alastar replied calmly. “I know they’re still a little iffy about Sir, but he really _has_ been making massive improvements since.”

“I do like the idea of getting them together though,” Unikitty chirped. “Sirius has been so lonely, he _should_ know he still has family! I bet that’ll make him really happy! And a party is the perfect setting I think- that way they’ll both have other people to talk to if they start to feel really awkward.”

“Thank you, Unikitty.”

“I’ll go give Mum and Dad a call then, see if I can’t talk them around,” Alastar said, getting up and fishing his phone from his pocket.

“Great! So if this works out, I was thinking of having Risky come at a specific time and Sirius can answer the door…”


	23. Scarf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Scarf**

“Might I ask why you decided to skip out on patrol tonight, Master Dick?” Alfred asked, tapping lightly on the boy’s door. There was some shuffling, and then a _thump_ , and then several lighter thumps as he hurried to open the door. The butler was greeted with a bright smile. Not feeling so ill after all, then.

“Cause I wanted to have time to make gifts for Dad and Miss Barbara!” Alfred shifted his gaze from his adoptive grandson to the pile of yarn and needles sitting on his bed.

“I wasn’t aware you knitted,” he said, pleasantly surprised.

“Yeah! I’m making them scarves! But between school and going crimefighting with Dad, I haven’t really had a lot of time to work on them, so I had to lie and tell him I had a stomachache…”

“I suppose, in this case, a little white lie is warranted.” Dick grinned at the approval. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Should you find yourself pressed for time again, let me know. I’ll help you draft another cover story.”

“Thanks, Grandpa!” Dick cheered, throwing his arms around the butler. Alfred smiled and hugged him back. If Bruce didn’t appreciate the boy’s efforts… Well, he’d figure out some way to serve him his comeuppance.


	24. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Shopping**

“Remind me the rules of this stupid game, again?” Sirius sighed as Benny dragged him around the mall in search of gifts. He’d had the mall built, but he’d never had cause to _shop_ at it before. “Why is it even called Dirty Santa?”

“Because of the way it’s played,” Benny snickered. “Everyone attending the party brings a gift of equal or at least relative value- we all decided on twenty to thirty bucks- and we each get assigned a number. When your number is drawn, you have the choice of choosing a gift to unwrap, or stealing someone else’s, if you aren’t the first one called. Gifts can be stolen up to two times, but if someone steals your gift, you can’t steal it back. You have to steal from someone else. The game ends when everybody has a gift.”

“But why would anyone want to _steal_ such a cheap gift?”

Benny laughed. “I know thirty dollars is just pocket change to you, but for the rest of us, that’s a fair chunk of money. Besides, it’s all in the spirit of fun. You should also pick out some legit gifts, though. We all got you something.” He grinned. “I think you’ll really like it.”

Sirius turned to stare at him. “What, did you all chip in to get me one big gift?”

“Well we each got you a ‘stocking stuffer’ type gift too, but yeah, we all kinda pitched in on one.”

“And what could you have possibly gotten me that I couldn’t have afforded for myself?”

Benny smirked. “Ah ah, that would be ruining the surprise. You’ll just have to wait.” Sirius huffed at him.

“So, Mister Chaperone, I take it you’re tagging along to help me pick out good gifts that everyone will actually like?”

“Well yeah, that was kinda the idea. I’m sure you know us all well enough by now to have a fair idea of what we’ll like or not, but it never hurts to have a second opinion.” Benny poked him. “I’m also here to make sure you don’t spend _too_ much money on us.”

“How much money I spend on my friends is my business and my business alone, thank you very much,” Sirius sniffed at him. Benny floated up behind him, wrapping his arms around Sirius’ shoulders in a loose hug. Sirius smiled slightly and relaxed into the embrace, trying to ignore the odd looks the other shoppers were giving them.

“And I appreciate the sentiment, but at least most of us would feel really guilty if you got us all these super nice, _expensive_ gifts, and we can’t afford to get you anything on the same tier.”

“Benny, this is my first Christmas in _thirty-six years_. That you all even _want_ to celebrate it with me is a pretty big gift in itself. And you’ve all stuck by me to make sure I stay on track, and been my friends, even though you didn’t have to, and-” He sighed. “And I know it sounds really dumb, but the only way I know _how_ to show my appreciation for all that you’ve done for me is to spend a lot of money. So. Please let me?”

The hug tightened. “Dude, don’t make me cry in the middle of the _mall_ , that’s not fair.”

Sirius chuckled and reached up to give one of Benny’s wrists a gentle squeeze. “Don’t go making a spectacle of yourself yet, Benny, we still have a _lot_ of presents to buy.”

“Fiiiiine, but you better let me cry it out when we’re done!”

“As long as Cary doesn’t come for my head for making you cry, we have a deal.”


	25. Eggnog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Eggnog**

Larry yawned widely as he fished his keychain from his pocket and flipped through the collection to find the right one for the shop. It was ridiculous, that anyone should be up even before the birds, but the world was already gearing up to face the day, and people would need their caffeine if they were to manage that with any degree of success. Finally finding the correct key, he slid it into the lock and turned it, opening the door.

He made it two steps into the dining room before he paused. There on the countertop was a brightly wrapped, oddly-shaped object, with a card propped against it. Skip hadn’t said anything about anyone leaving a gift… But then, knowing Skip, she probably wanted it to stay a surprise. He approached the counter, picking up the card. ‘For Our Favorite Barista’, the envelop read. He scoffed- couldn’t _possibly_ be for _him_ , then, but since it didn’t have an actual name, he slipped the card out to read it anyway. Just to see who it was actually for.

‘You’ve told us several times that we would drive you to drink, if you could afford the habit. Since it’s the holiday season, we figured we’d give you a hand with that. Thanks for putting up with us on a Tuesdaily basis,’ it read, complete with a smiley face and signed with eight familiar names.

“Oh, they _didn’t_ ,” he murmured, cautiously reaching to untie the ribbon around the top. The wrapping paper fell away to reveal a large bottle of Pennsylvania Dutch- which he remembered admitting to the police deputy, once, that he quite enjoyed. Sneaky bastard, so _that_ was why he’d brought it up. Larry leaned against the counter, laughing helplessly. He’d have to remember to pay them back, next Tuesday. Free donuts, or something.


	26. Baking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Baking**

Lucy paused when she walked in the door. There were cookie tins piled up everywhere, Christmas music was playing, and something smelled _fantastic_. “Babe?” she called out, taking off her hat and scarf.

“Kitchen!” Emmet sang back, and she set off to find him. She stopped in the doorway, smiling as she watched him carefully piping colorful icing onto cutout cookies, tongue poked out in concentration.

“Why so many cookies?”

“Cause I work with a _lot_ of people,” he answered. “And some are for the neighbors, and I wanted you to be able to have some to take with you for the kids!”

“So you baked enough for the _entire city_.”

Emmet paused, and glanced around, wincing when he realized just how many tubs and tins and bags there were. “I guess I did get a bit carried away,” he admitted. Lucy smiled and walked over to kiss his cheek.

“Tell you what. You make sure all the intended recipients get some, and then whatever’s left over, we’ll take to the homeless shelters. I bet they’d _love_ your amazing cookies.”

“Yeah! That sounds good!”

“And Emmet?”

“Yes?”

Lucy smirked. “Make a tally of how many you gave away so we don’t have a repeat of this next year.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Okay.”


	27. Sled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Sled**

The storms had finally calmed. Predictably, school was canceled, and Dick was beside himself with excitement. The snow was easily four feet deep, and promised a day full of adventure to the ten-year-old.

Alfred smiled to himself as a familiar cheer of “SNOW DAY!” echoed through the halls, and got started on making a thermos of hot chocolate. Bruce might put up a token fuss about it, but eventually he would cave and take the boy out to the choicest sledding hills in the city.

Barbara smiled around her mug of coffee. “I remember those days,” she sighed fondly. Alfred chuckled.

“I suppose I shall have to give him my gift early, this year. I’m certain he’ll make use of it today.”

“You bought him a sled?”

“I bought him a sled. I could use some suggestions for a new gift.” Barbara giggled.

“I’ll have some ideas for you by the end of the day,” she promised. “Suppose I better go join him in his campaign to get Bruce out of the house.”

“Please do.”

“OHMYGOSH MISS BARBARA I MEAN MOM DO YOU SEE HOW DEEP THE SNOW IS WE CAN MAKE SNOWMEN AND DIG TUNNELS AND HAVE SNOWBALL FIGHTS AND GO SLEDDING AND-”

“…I think I’ll make _two_ thermoses, then.”


	28. Toys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Toys**

“They’re pretty feisty tonight,” was the first thing Sarah sighed at her when she opened the door. Amy peered around her to find the source of all the noise. Sure enough, Finn and Bianca were playing quite loudly, completely ignoring the movie their mother had put on in attempt to quell them. She smiled.

“I can handle this, you go ahead and finish getting ready. Goodness knows you and Bill could use a break from… _this_.”

“ _Thank you_ ,” Sarah said fervently, letting her in. “Look who’s here!”

“Amy!” Finn cheered.

“Amy Amy!” Bianca parroted, barreling toward her as fast as her short legs would carry her. Amy knelt down to accept the little girl’s hug.

“Ohh I missed you too, munchkin! I have something for you! You too Finn, come over here.” Bianca squealed and grabbed at one of the colorful boxes Amy held, already starting to tear off the paper. “Whoa, hey, hold up!” Amy laughed, snatching it back before too much damage could be done to the wrapping. “Gracious sakes, _what_ are you wound up on? That’s Finn’s present!” She juggled the boxes for a moment, handing the right one back. “ _That_ one’s yours. Go nuts.” As Bianca plopped down to shred the wrapping, Amy stood to give Finn his gift. “Sorry about that.”

The boy shrugged. “I’m pretty used to it by now. Mom has to keep reminding her every morning it’s not Christmas yet.”

“Well thank you for being so patient, at least.” She smiled. “Go ahead and open it!” He grinned and started ripping off the paper.

“You got me Jurassic World?!” He bounced excitedly.

“Just one of the smaller sets,” Amy said, smiling. “I’m sure you and your dad will keep building on your collection. I have something else for you, too.” Finn’s eyes went wide as she dug into the front pouch on her satchel, and handed over a minifigure. He gasped, cupping it almost reverently in his hands.

“You made her!! You made Callie!!” He launched himself at the babysitter, wrapping his arms around her. Amy patted his back. “She looks just like I pictured! I can’t wait to play with her!”

“Excited much?” Amy laughed. “You’re welcome.”

“Finn! Look! I got Lego Friends!” Bianca shoved the box in his face.

“That’s cool, Bee,” Finn said, pushing it away.

“Play with meeee!” she whined before plopping onto the carpet, tugging the cover off and dumping pieces all over the floor. Finn turned a helpless look to Amy.

“It’s alright, I’m sure we can figure out a way to play domestic dinosaurs,” Amy assured, grinning.


	29. Solstice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.
> 
> I was going to wait until the 21st to post this one, but I have no patience. C:

**Solstice**

Sirius stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. He felt like he’d had a stone right in the middle of his chest all day, and it only got worse the darker out it got. By the time five o’clock had rolled around, he’d practically sprinted to the garage, barking at Bobby to take him to Marble Street. He hadn’t even given thought to the possibility his friend might not be home; he didn’t know what he’d do if he wasn’t.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. He stepped out, and was surprised to be greeted with music, faint but pleasant. The music grew louder as he made his way down the hall. He took a moment to double check that he had the right door before knocking. The music stopped almost immediately. A few seconds later the door opened, and he was greeted by Alastar’s surprised stare. “Sir?” he questioned. “What are you doing here?”

“I really needed to get out of the Tower for a while, it was…” He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “I feel like I’ve been drowning all day. It’s too much.” Without another word, Alastar nudged him inside. Once he’d slipped out of his shoes and hung up his coat, he was herded toward the couch. With a sigh, Cary began to pack up his violin.

“Oh. Was- was that you guys playing? I didn’t know you knew how.”

“Cary was helping me practice,” Alastar confirmed. He grabbed the fleece blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around Sirius before pushing him down to sit on the surprisingly comfy piece of furniture. “I’m playing at the party.”

“You’re really good.” He wrapped the blanket more tightly around himself. “Would you mind playing some more…?” The two brothers glanced at each other. Rolling his eyes, Cary picked up his violin again.

“For the record, this isn’t fair.”

Sirius tried not to flinch. “What’s not?”

“That _you_ got to hear me play before _Benny_.”

“Oh. I’m. Sorry?”

“You _still_ haven’t played for Benny??” Cary didn’t answer, instead touching the bow to the strings and began playing Silent Night. Alastar huffed and gestured rudely at him before heading toward the adjoining kitchen, making Sirius snort in amusement. Watching them halfway made him wish _he_ had a brother to bicker with. “Do you like your cocoa with marshmallows? Candy canes? Whipped cream and sprinkles?”

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

“Just answer the question, Sir.”

“…Candy canes are good.” Alastar smiled brightly at him, and started gathering ingredients to make hot chocolate from scratch. Sirius tried to smile back, but it quickly fell. He hunched in on himself, pulling the blanket to cover his head as he listened to Cary playing, Alastar softly singing along in the kitchen. Between songs, Cary nudged the box of tissues closer to him. Sirius nodded his thanks, but didn’t take one- he wasn’t quite to the point of needing them, and was honestly starting to feel better already. Their apartment was cozy and comfortable and far more homey than his penthouse, even with his friends’ efforts to make it feel more like a home and not just the place he lived. The company was a vast improvement as well.

After a few minutes Alastar returned, a trio of mugs in hand. Sirius gratefully accepted his mug, letting its warmth soak into him. “You want to talk about it?” Alastar offered, voice soft, as he sat beside the President. Cary put his violin away for real this time, sitting on his other side.

“I guess I’ve been thinking too much lately,” Sirius said, staring down at his mug. “All this Christmas stuff…” He glanced up at Alastar. “You remember I said I haven’t celebrated since I was six, right?” Alastar nodded. “It was because of my grandparents that I ever did at all. They’d come get me for the last week in December. Father threw a fit every year, said they were spoiling me too much. When they died, that was it. I… haven’t really thought about them, since. Sounds terrible, I know. But all this hype you’ve all roped me into has gotten me thinking about them again, and _that_ got me thinking about _other_ things…”

“Us?” Cary ventured.

“Yeah,” Sirius said quietly. “I still don’t understand. How _any_ of you could want anything to do with me, after all I’ve done, but you two especially… I don’t get how you can just- act like nothing I did to hurt you ever happened. Like you’ve _forgotten_. _I_ can’t…”

“Because that’s what forgiveness means,” Alastar said. “Certainly we haven’t _forgotten_ \- we learned our lessons, and we’re not going to let you take advantage of us like that again, any more than we’re going to let you slip back into your Lord Business mindset. But we’ve also moved on from it. You’re not the same person you were back then, and neither are we. Remember _that_ the next time you feel like being so hard on yourself.” Sirius sat silently for a minute before letting his head thump against Alastar’s shoulder. Alastar smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“…Why don’t we see what’s on tv? Maybe there’s something _not_ Christmassy on.” Cary said, grabbing the remote and turning it on. He flipped through the guide for a bit. “There we go, Blazing Saddles. And we’ve only missed the first few minutes.” He settled back into the couch, stretching an arm across the back, which Sirius recognized as a protective gesture. He smiled to himself. Between that and Alastar fussing over him (“Would you like some more cocoa? A snack? Please tell me you at least ate _something_ before you rushed over he- _you didn’t_. Augh. Stay here.”), he thought he might just survive this long night after all.

~* *~

 _Cary returned to the apartment the next morning to collect the last few of his belongings, and chuckled when he saw his brother and his boss passed out together on the couch, the television still on. They must have stayed up til some ridiculous hour of the morning, watching movies until they crashed. He smirked and pulled out his phone; this was a photo op he could_ not _pass up._

_Alastar had stretched out along the length of the couch, glasses pushed up onto his head, Sirius laying on top of him and using his chest as a pillow. One of the President’s arms dangled over the side of the couch, with Alastar’s folded over his back. He texted the photo to Benny, and made his way back to the bedroom. By the time he had finished packing up the rest of his stuff a few minutes later, Benny had texted back with “i ship it ;)”. He huffed his amusement and grabbed his duffle bag, leaving as quietly as he came._

_But not before grabbing their phones to take pictures on, as well. He wondered how long it would take them to find it._


	30. Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr.

**Cards**

“Huh, look at that,” Benny murmured as he came back into the apartment. Bad Cop glanced up to see him with a stack of mail in one hand, staring at one red-enveloped card in particular.

“What is it?”

“Got a Christmas card from Barry. First one I’ve gotten from _any_ of my family in… I don’t even remember how long.”

Bad Cop gave him a confused look. “I thought you said you and your brothers were close?”

“‘Were’ being the key word there,” Benny sighed. “They didn’t take so kindly to me leaving for Cape Space. Even less so when I finally worked up the courage to tell them I’m gay.” He flopped down onto the couch next to Bad Cop, leaning against him. B glanced down to look at the name on the return address; it read ‘Barrett Moore & Family’.

“Moore?”

“Dad got pissed. I got disowned.” Benny shrugged. “So I changed my last name. I like Blue better anyway.”

“Oh, Ben…”

“Hey, I found an awesome new family anyway. It’s all good, yeah?”

“You need some privacy to read that?”

Benny chewed his lip. “…I’d rather you were here.”

“I can do that.” Bad Cop wrapped an arm around him, letting him snuggle in close as he tore open the envelop and slid the card out to read it. The card itself was fairly standard issue, with a few signatures in it- not just Barry’s, but Bill’s as well, their wives, and their kids. Benny sucked in a breath at that, and with shaking hands, plucked out the folded piece of paper that was tucked inside. He read it in silence. Bad Cop rubbed his back as the tears started, and pressed a kiss to his head. “Ben…?”

“They- they wanted to let me know that Mom and Dad are gone,” Benny muttered. “Dad just this summer, Mom a few years ago… I didn’t even know…” Wordlessly, Bad Cop pulled Benny onto his lap, holding him. Benny laid limply against him. “They said they didn’t even know I was alive til they heard my name, this summer.” He gave a short chuckle, resting his head on Bad Cop’s shoulder. “They said it’s become something of a joke, that Dad died of embarrassment, cause he passed only a few days after they heard I’d helped to save the world... And they’re sorry, too, for- well, pretty much everything that went down after we turned eighteen. They said-” He hiccupped, unable to get any more words out, and held up the letter for Bad Cop to read. He took the paper, looking it over as Benny sniffled into his shirt.

“He better have been proud of you. You’ve done a lot worth being proud of.” He ran his fingers through Benny’s curls, humming softly until he calmed back down. “You want to send a card back? It’s not too late.”

“Yeah, actually, I think I do. And I think I know just what I want to say back to them.”


	31. Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Lego Movie Advent Calendar on Tumblr. Last one!

**Gift**

Cary sighed as he let himself in, glad to finally be home. It had been a long day at the station; Sirius had managed to get the remaining few intact bots functioning again, and the officer had spent literally the entire day going over their new parameters with them. They still listened as intently as ever, he was pleased to note, but it took a while to get it to sink in that the Master Builders were no longer a problem. Their only duty for the day was to keep an eye on things for the human officers so they could spend the holiday with their families. He didn’t expect anyone would be out and about, but on the off-chance someone did need to leave their home, he was content knowing his bots had everything in hand.

“Hey B!” Benny greeted, bouncing over to give him a kiss hello. “What kept you?”

“Getting the new recruits up to date on their duties for tomorrow.”

Benny paused at that. “I didn’t know you were getting new officers.”

“Neither did I, until today.”

“Aww, and you’re making them work on _Christmas??_ You Scrooge.”

Cary chuckled. “It’s not quite what you think, Ben. They’re former Super Secret Police.”

“ _Ohh!_ I suppose that’s okay then. You gonna do something nice for them when you get back, or will it not even matter to them? I mean they did seem to have a bit of personality.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Cary smirked. “They could be a handful sometimes. We’ll do something nice for them when the holidays are over.”

Benny smiled. “That’s good. So I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Does your family do the Christmas Eve gift exchange?”

“As a matter of fact, we do.”

“Great!” Benny grinned. “Cause I’ve got something I’ve been _dying_ to give you and I don’t think I can wait until tomorrow morning.” He practically dove for their little tree, grabbing a small box from the top of the pile and bouncing back to Cary, holding it out to him. “Merry Christmas, B.”

The cop took it, tearing off the paper, and pausing when he saw the Ray-Ban logo on the box. “I know that cheap pair you got after Halloween just hasn’t been cutting it,” Benny started babbling, “and as much as I love getting to see those gorgeous eyes of yours more often, you’re just not _you_ without your trademark aviators, so I thought-”

Cary opened the box, and sure enough, a pair of aviator sunglasses, silver frames with silver mirrored lenses, rested inside. He leaned in close, cutting Benny off with a kiss. “Thank you.”

Benny beamed at him. “You’re welcome.” He bounced. “So where’s my gift??”

Cary laughed at him. “Patience, Ben. I’m getting there.” Instead of making his way toward the tree, though, he reached behind the couch. Benny tilted his head, staring in confusion as Cary pulled a violin case out.

“B??”

He didn’t answer, only flipped open the latches and pulled the instrument out. Benny’s eyes went wide as he touched the bow to the strings. “Oh wow, I didn’t know you could play-!” Cary quirked an eyebrow at him, and he fell silent, grinning and practically vibrating in excitement. He gasped as Cary began to play, quickly recognizing the tune as _All I Want For Christmas_. He clasped his hands together, pressing them to his mouth to keep from making any sound during his boyfriend’s performance.

Cary met his bright gaze when he finished the song. “Ben…?”

“That was…” He cleared his throat. “I take back what I said about saying stuff like a normal person. That was very sweet.” Cary smiled at him, and he finally launched himself at the officer, wrapping his arms around him. “Can we just- stay in bed all day tomorrow? Can that be one of my presents??”

Cary chuckled and kissed him. “Sounds like a plan.”

_“Yes!”_


	32. Regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4 updates today. :D Merry Christmas~!

**Regret**

Bad Cop tried not to tense as he walked through the HQ alone. It was strange, not having Benny with him for this visit, but he had a purpose, and he didn’t want them to think that the only reason he came was because of Benny. Well, it _was_ because of Benny, but not _only_ because of Benny. Not even _mostly_ because of Benny. “I’m looking for Ken Reid and Lenny Wright,” he told the receptionist. She’d seen him around often enough lately, she didn’t even question it. He folded his arms across his chest, trying not to look awkward or nervous as he waited.

It was a few minutes before the two astronauts made an appearance. Without Benny around, Ken didn’t bother to hide his scowl. “What are you doing here, Bad Cop,” he grumbled.

“Why isn’t Benny here? He’s not in trouble, is he?” Lenny asked.

“No, no, Ben’s just fine. He’s out gift shopping with Sir today. I wanted to apologize.”

“You’re apologizing? Seriously? Did Benny put you up to this?”

“Ken,” Lenny sighed.

“No, Lenny. This ass put us through hell for _eight years_ , and then he takes _this long_ to finally say he’s sorry? Like that’s going to just fix everything?” Ken turned back to glare at him. “I still don’t think Benny really understands what he’s getting into, with you.”

Bad Cop frowned back at him. “I can understand why you feel protective of him, but Ben’s hardly a child-”

“I’ve seen you in action, Bad Cop. I _know_ what you’re like when things aren’t going your way. You’re a _monster_. You gonna do the same to him that you’ve done to every other Master Builder that crossed your path, the first time you two have a real argument? Break him and toss him aside?”

“I…”

“ _Ken!_ ” Lenny hissed. “That was entirely uncalled for! You really think he would come here completely alone if he _wasn’t_ sincere in his desire to make peace with us? Cause I think you’ve just done a damn good job of proving this is _still_ hostile territory.”

“It’s fine,” Bad Cop said gruffly, shoving his hands into his coat pockets. “If anything, that answered my question. Sorry to have wasted your time.” He turned and walked briskly away, hunching his shoulders against the wind as he walked through the doors.

Ken turned to Lenny, wincing at the look on his husband’s face.

“I think you just made that poor man cry.”


	33. Debate

**Debate**

Penelope and Jenny paused when they heard Ken and Lenny’s voices in the hallway, having a shouting match. “…Think we should interrupt? It sounds bad,” Jenny said, chewing her lip with worry.

“We probably should,” Penelope sighed. “Remember what the Director said the _last_ time they had one of their spats in public?”

“Oh. Oh dear yes, let’s go.” They hurried along, following the sounds of their argument. The two men glanced over at their approach.

“Hey,” Lenny greeted, voice dropping in volume. “Penn, be a dear and do me a favor?”

“What favor would that be…?”

“Smack some sense into my idiot husband, please.”

Penelope turned a bewildered stare onto Ken. “Kenneth Leigh Reid, _what_ did you do?!”

“Lost my temper at someone,” Ken admitted, grumbling. “Who totally deserved it! But, uh-” He flinched as Lenny gestured toward him. “Maybe not right at that moment…”

“We heard Bad Cop was here,” Jenny said. “Does this have anything to do with him?”

“Been and gone,” Lenny huffed, folding his arms. “He came to _try_ to apologize.” Penelope rolled her eyes and swatted Ken upside the head.

“Oww! _Damn_ it, Penn…”

“ _Worst_ possible timing, Reid. You’re probably _never_ going to hear that from him again, now.”

“I was just-”

“ _Don’t even,_ ” Penelope cut him off with a hiss. “You don’t get to use Bluebird as an excuse for this. He hardly needs you to protect him, and certainly not from _Cary_. If you’d get your head out of your ass for five minutes and stop letting your anger cloud your judgement, you’d see just how _important_ Benny really is to him.”

Lenny nodded. “Contrary to what Ken was screaming at him about, he just kind of… stood there and took it. Left without even _trying_ to defend himself. I think that’s the person Benny sees, and that he’s been trying to help _us_ to see.”

“Alright, you all can stop ganging up on me now…”

“Oh Ken, no one’s trying to say you’re not allowed to be _angry_ about what was done to you,” Jenny soothed. “But if we keep holding the past over Bad Cop’s and Business’ heads, they might just live back _down_ to our expectations. _Nobody_ wins when we let our anger and hurt rule us.” She cupped his face and kissed his forehead, and he sighed.

“I fucked that one up good, didn’t I?”

“Ah, I wouldn’t say it’s _completely_ FUBAR,” Penelope said. “Benny will just kick your ass from one end of the launch pad to the other, once he hears about it. He’ll forgive you after that.”

“Gee, thanks, Penn.”

She shrugged. “You brought it on yourself. I have no sympathy.”


	34. Eternal

**Eternal**

Caesar glanced up as one of the massive doors creaked open, permitting entrance to a single soul. At the familiar glint of copper, he sighed and reached down for his spare bottle, plunking it down on the table and pulling the cork out. He slid it across as his guest dropped himself into the chair opposite of him. “I knew you’d come to see me eventually,” he said. “Sweater’s a bit big on you, isn’t it?”

“Still smells like him,” Benny said thickly, accepting the bottle and taking a swig. He grimaced as the rum burned its way down, and took another gulp. Caesar raised his eyebrows at that.

“Careful, that’ll knock you into next week.”

“ _Good_.” He slammed the bottle back down, not caring that some of its contents splashed all over his hand. “How do you do it?”

“I’m going to need some clarification on what ‘it’ is, lad.”

“How do you… How do you keep on going when your whole world has fallen down around you…? When it feels like you’re missing half of yourself? When you know that you-” He swallowed hard. “Know that you’ll outlive every single person that’s ever mattered to you…?”

“Been a week now, has it…?”

“Yeah…” Benny wiped at his eyes. “Just when I thought I was all out of tears… I’m so tired of burying people, Caesar… I can’t take anymore, not after him… I’m not even a hundred yet, how did you do it for _eight thousand years?_ ”

Caesar sighed and took a drink from his own bottle. “I had Vitruvius,” he said simply. “But we each dealt with it in our own ways. He took a vow of celibacy, I never let any of my dalliances get too close. We made it so that, in the end, we would only ever have each other. It’s been sixty years, lad, yet it still feels like I just lost him yesterday, sometimes. That pain never _really_ goes away, it just… becomes easier to deal with. Takes practice, like with anything else.”

Benny studied Caesar from across the table. The retired pirate had never seemed so _old_ before. Oh, his hair and beard were white long before Benny had even met him, sure, but he’d had the same youthful vitality that Vitruvius had, right up until the day he’d died. But now he _looked_ every bit as ancient as he was.

He wondered how long it would take for him to look like that.

Caesar smirked at him. “Starting to look my age, finally, am I?” he asked. Benny nodded sheepishly. “Aye lad, my time is finally about up. Tonight’s my last night on this fine earth.”

Benny looked stricken at that. “Oh Caesar no, not you too…! Please, I _can’t_ …”

“Oh, don’t mourn for me, lad, I look forward to it!” He raised his bottle. “I’ve finally completed my last task, and now I pass the torch on to you. You’ll make an excellent sentinel, I think.”

Benny gave him a weary look. “And if I decide I’ve had enough and would rather fly into the sun?”

“That be your choice lad,” Caesar chuckled. “But I’ve lived long enough to learn that the things we hold dear have a way of coming back to us, eventually. I’ve lived to see Atlantis restored! And Master Builders learn to work together again! And _many_ wondrous other things, lad. If I were you, I wouldn’t give up just yet. Now come on Benny, drink with me tonight, celebrate with me! And in the morning, set me adrift in a dinghy and light me up, I want my ashes scattered at sea.”

Smiling through his tears at Caesar’s antics, Benny raised his bottle as well. He supposed, for a pirate, there could be no finer send-off.


	35. Quietude

**Quietude**

The beach was silent, as she walked down along the water line. Even the gulls were quiet out of respect- or it was just too early for their shenanigans, she wasn’t quite sure. But she finally found what she was looking for, after a few minutes, sitting alone and still staring out at the flames in the distance. The pirates had already performed their funeral ceremony and moved on to mourn in their own ways. She sat beside him, pressing her side to his without a word.

“You know, I’m actually going to miss that crazy old bastard,” Benny said after a while.

“Have you been out here all night?”

“In Pirate’s Cove, yeah. I’ve only been sitting here for a couple hours, maybe. Had a lot on my mind. Also, I think I’m hung over and dehydrated, my head is _killing_ me.”

“Good thing I came prepared then,” she huffed, shrugging off the pack she carried and nudging it toward him. He flipped it open, rummaging through it.

“Oh look at that, you got the kitchen sink in here too,” he murmured, and finally pulled out a water bottle. He twisted the cap off and chugged half of it down in one go. She giggled, but her smile was quick to fall away again.

“I didn’t know what to expect. You really scared us last night, you know. You just up and left without telling anyone, we couldn’t get ahold of you… Your crew were freaking out, they started to fear the worst.”

“I’ll be honest, Kitty, I did think about it…” He sighed, resting his head against her shoulder. “What made you think to look for me here?”

“A hint from an old friend. I don’t think we’ll be seeing him again. So what _did_ bring you out here?”

“I came looking for some advice.”

“And Caesar actually gave you what you asked for?”

“Pfft, no. This is _Caesar_ we’re talking about. But he did give me what I _needed_.”

“And what’s that?”

“…A purpose.”


	36. Moon Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess it's Coppernauts Week on Tumblr. I missed Day One, but here's today's prompt!

**Moon Date**

“I wanna show you why I love space so much,” Benny said out of the blue one day, and grinned at him. “Wanna go on a moon date with me?”

Of course he hadn’t been able to refuse, but it took a bit of harassing Benny’s crewmates (mostly on Benny’s part, he was still uncomfortable around them) to find a spacesuit that would fit him. He was stunned when Ken was the one to say he knew exactly where to find one, and left to retrieve it. Even Benny seemed a little surprised. Lenny gave them a rueful smile. “Ken’s kind of bad at apologies, too. I can only assume this is an attempt at a peace offering.”

“Oh.”

“Took him long enough,” Benny huffed, folding his arms across his chest.

“Oh I agree,” Lenny said. “But I think everything we’ve been trying to tell him has finally sunk in.”

Ken returned with a standard gray suit, handing it over. “Just bring it back in one piece,” he muttered.

“Thank you,” Bad Cop said with the most sincerity he could muster. Ken glanced back up at him, then waved him off.

“No big deal. You guys enjoy your date.” Benny beamed at him, throwing his arms around Ken in a tight hug before dragging Bad Cop back out to the parking lot.

“This thing’s heavier than I was expecting,” Bad Cop murmured as he tried to keep hold of the suit. “ _You_ make it look like it weighs about as much as a feather.”

“Antigrav abilities come in handy,” Benny snickered, and pulled him down to kiss his cheek. “Can’t wait to see it on you.” Bad Cop quirked an eyebrow at him, and Benny laughed. “Geez, B, not like _that_. I’m just excited to be able to share this with you! I mean I know space really isn’t your thing so that you would even trust me to- _mm_.” He leaned into the kiss.

“Space is my thing when I know you’ll be there.” Benny gave him a wide, dopey grin.

“You’re such a sap. I love you.”

“I love you too, Ben.”


	37. Angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Coppernauts Week C:

**Angst**

Bad Cop seemed increasingly nervous as the day of their ‘moon date’ approached. At first, Benny had chalked it up to nervousness about being in space, and had done everything he could think of to assure B that they would be perfectly safe. He double-checked the space suit, walked Bad Cop through a practice run on how to put it on and take it off, went over his spaceship to make sure it was solid and safe… Only for Bad Cop to insist that _wasn’t_ what he was worried about.

“You are too smart and too skilled to build something that would fall apart at the slightest mishap. I _know_ we’ll be safe. I trust you.”

“Then what’s got you so worked up?” Benny pressed.

“It’s nothing,” Bad Cop said, and kissed his head. And that was all he would say on the matter from then on. _It’s nothing_. But his nervousness only seemed to get worse.

Benny really hoped he wouldn’t get cold feet and back out. He had a _plan_ , darn it, and he couldn’t execute it very well if Bad Cop wasn’t there with him! Kind of hard to have a date all by yourself. But no amount of poking and pressing and wheedling and even begging would get Bad Cop to open up to him.

Bad Cop finally snapped the day before their date. “Ben, I have told you a thousand times by now. _It’s nothing. Back off_.” And Benny did, as Bad Cop sighed his annoyance and turned back to whoever he’d been texting. Probably one of his brothers.

He went to bed early that night, hoping he hadn’t just ruined the whole thing.


	38. Protective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for Coppernauts Week

**Protective**

Benny woke feeling pleasantly warm, finding himself pulled close to a familiar body, an arm draped over his waist, and relaxed. Maybe he hadn’t annoyed B as badly as he thought after all. He smiled, kissing Bad Cop’s shoulder, earning a soft hum in response as the cop stretched. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” Benny chewed his lip. “Are we still on for our date…?”

Bad Cop stared at him as though he’d grown a second head. “Of course, Ben,” he said after a moment. Benny scooted up until they were nose to nose.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a pest.”

“I’m sorry I gave you cause to be.” Benny smiled briefly at that.

“I just- I want this to be _perfect_ , you know? I’ve been wanting to take you to space for… a while now, so I was so happy when you agreed! But you’ve been so tense ever since, I was starting to worry you were having second thoughts, so I did everything I could think of to prove to you it’ll be safe…”

“I’ll admit, I am a little nervous about being off the planet,” Bad Cop told him. “I felt the same way the first time Alastar and I flew. But I know we’re going to be just fine out there. I told you- I _trust_ you.” Benny beamed at him and snuggled in close. “Alright, Mister Astronaut, up and at ‘em, we’ve got preparations to make.”

Benny was up like a shot. “Right!” he cheered. Bad Cop chuckled softly as Benny made a beeline for the bathroom. He’d known what Benny had been trying to do all along, and he did appreciate it- it _did_ actually help to make him feel better that Benny was taking safety precautions seriously, and wasn’t just blowing off his concerns as ‘unfounded paranoia’, or something. He pushed himself out of bed to start getting ready as well.

~* *~

Space suits had come a long way since their original bulky, awkward designs. Even Benny’s suit was leaps and bounds ahead of them, though considered obsolete by modern standards.

(His crew had offered to get him an updated one. He’d refused. Though he _had_ at least accepted a new helmet- he couldn’t very well go moonwalking with his broken one.)

“Ken found you a _good_ one,” Benny said as he helped Bad Cop put it on. They were made to be able to be put on without help, but the first few times were still tricky. “I don’t think this one’s more than a decade old. Can’t believe it was just laying around unused.” He finished fastening it, then moved around to Bad Cop’s front to pat his chest, grinning. “There we go, snug as a bug. Still feels fine?”

“The limited mobility is going to take some getting used to…”

“That just means it’s doing its job.” He floated up and pecked Bad Cop’s lips. “Think we’re ready to go?”

“As we’ll ever be.”

Benny cheered, practically sprinting to the rooftop. “SPACESHIP!!”


	39. Proposal

**Proposal**

It was only a few minutes before they were out among the stars, and soon Bad Cop felt the weightlessness of zero gravity. He sucked in a sharp breath, now especially grateful he was strapped in, and Benny giggled. “Relax, B. I’d never let you drift away. And zero G’s pretty fun once you get used to it!”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“You’ll see for yourself soon enough. Get a load of _this_ view.” Bad Cop forced his eyes open again, and stared in wonder. Benny had angled the ship just so, that neither the earth nor the moon were visible, and it looked like they were floating in a sea of stars.

“Oh my.”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Benny asked as he stared out, voice uncharacteristically soft. “This is one of my favorite views, the other being seeing Alterra from the moon. Pictures really don’t do it justice, you have to _experience_ it.”

“It’s incredible.” Benny turned, smiling brightly at him.

“What do you say we go for a moon walk?”

“Alright.”

Benny touched down close-ish to the moon base and dragged Bad Cop to the airlock. “This is _so_ weird,” Bad Cop complained as he put on his helmet and turned on his radio.

“Just give it a few minutes, you’ll adjust,” Benny assured him, and then pulled him outside the ship. Bad Cop watched as Benny bounced ahead a short distance, then turned back and tilted his head. “You coming or what?” Bad Cop sighed and took a step, trying to retain his dignity and _not_ yelp when it launched him further than he was expecting. Benny snickered at him. “Never expected _low gravity_ would prove to be big scary Bad Cop’s undoing.”

“Just you wait til I get my hands on you,” Bad Cop growled back.

“I’m counting on it.” With a snarl the cop launched himself toward the astronaut. Benny only laughed and bounced away, leading him on a chase that took them further and further away from the ship. They could barely see the moon base by the time Bad Cop caught him, practically tackling him to the ground. Benny grinned up at him. “Oh no, you caught me,” he mock-groaned. “Got the hang of it though, didn’t you?”

Bad Cop tilted his head. “…I suppose I did.”

“See? I told you it’s not so bad.” He gently nudged Bad Cop off of him and got up. “I think we’ve fooled around out here long enough. Let’s get back to the ship, I’m _famished_.” He smiled and held a hand out to Bad Cop, grinning wider when the cop’s gloved hand slipped into his own. It didn’t take them long to return, taking leaps instead of steps, and the first thing Benny did when they got back in was to yank their helmets off and kiss him. “So what do you think?”

“It’s not so bad.”

“Oh, pfft, don’t give me that. I saw you having fun out there.”

Bad Cop smirked back at him. “Maybe a little.”

They ate in comfortable silence, and then Benny decided to stretch his figurative wings, flying out further, no destination in mind, just enjoying his time in space. It had been too long, Bad Cop knew. From the tidbits he’d gathered from the others, Benny had attempted many times since his rescue to build a spaceship and return to space. It was little wonder he’d spazzed out so badly when the other Master Builders finally allowed him to, back at the studio.

Five years was a long time to be held back from doing what you love.

Finally Benny slowed to a halt, letting them simply float among the stars. “Ben?”

“It’s cool, B. I just wanna chill here for a bit.”

“…You sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah,” Benny sighed. “I just really missed this.” He glanced over, then took off his gloves, reaching for Bad Cop’s hand. Bad Cop fumbled with his own for a minute before finally yanking them off and taking Benny’s hand, squeezing gently. “Thanks for coming with me today, B.”

“Of course, Ben.” He kissed Benny’s knuckles, and the spaceman smiled at him. They sat in silence for a few moments.

“…Would you-”

“Would you-”

They both cut themselves off, and Benny snickered. “…You first,” Bad Cop said.

“Alright,” he agreed, lacing their fingers together. “I want you to marry me, Cary. Would you?” Bad Cop stared at him for a few seconds, then started laughing. Benny frowned. “I fail to see the joke, here.”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

The spaceman brightened up again as that sank in. “So- that’s a yes??”

“That’s a yes,” Bad Cop promised, and leaned over to kiss him. Benny fought with his restraints for a moment, then launched himself at the cop, kissing him back with enthusiasm.

“Is _that_ what had you so worked up all week?”

“…Maybe?”

Benny grinned. “Planning a proposal in space. I knew you were the right one for me.”

“And I hope I continue to be.”

“Honestly, B, I can’t see that _ever_ changing.”


	40. Scars

**Scars**

Just as he’d been told he would, he found Sirius swimming laps in the Tower’s indoor pool. He toed off his shoes and socks and stood at the edge, waiting for the President to notice him. It didn’t take long.

Sirius paused two strokes into his next lap, and treaded water in the deep end. “Did you need something?”

Alastar smiled. “Just you.”

Sirius huffed in embarrassment. “You couldn’t wait until I was done?”

Alastar just watched him as he attempted to scowl (it was cute, really, how he was trying to hide how happy he actually was with that response). He didn’t miss the way Sirius was trying to keep his shoulders below the water. Alastar understood he was self-conscious about the scars, but really, did he have to hide even around _him?_ “Nope. Are you going to come out, or am I going to have to come in after you?”

“I don’t see you wearing a swimsuit,” Sirius scoffed, but eyed him warily nonetheless. Alastar simply raised an eyebrow in response, and peeled his shirt off.

Sirius’ breath caught in his throat the moment he spotted the faded, pale, ragged scar stretching from Alastar’s right hip all the way up and across to his left shoulder. The cop paused in the process of unfastening his jeans, giving Sirius a curious look. “Are you alright?”

“I- …I _remember_ that…”

“Huh?” Alastar glanced down. “Oh, this,” he said, as his fingers brushed over the white splotches. “It’s a lot worse on Cary, since he was the one fronting when it happened.” Sirius winced, but finally made his way over to the pool’s edge.

“You almost died that time.”

“Yes.” Alastar sat down.

“You were in the hospital forever, and all I could think about was how annoyed I was that I’d have to find someone to replace you.” He snorted at that. “’Replace you’, as if I could have _ever_ found someone with _half_ your skill and dedication…” He let out a shaky breath.

“Why don’t you come on out of there, Sir?”

“Yeah…” He finally made his way out of the water, greeted at the top of the steps by Alastar holding out his towel. He didn’t protest as he was bundled up in the soft material and pulled close, taking in the other scars that littered Alastar’s torso and arms. They were nowhere near as bad as the big one, but still. That it was _his_ fault that such perfection had been permanently marred…

“Stop it,” Alastar chided gently, tugging on a lock of hair.

“Ow, hey!”

“What did I tell you about brooding?”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Sirius sulked. The pout disappeared when Alastar’s answer was only to smile at him and lean in to kiss him. “…How are you not… _uncomfortable_ with people seeing that…? Especially knowing _why_ you got it?”

“It’s a reminder of the lessons I’ve learned- a reminder that I have changed, and for the better.” Sirius gave him a weird look at first, and then-

 _“…Oh.”_ He huffed. “I’d rather not have them though, when I’ve got you to remind me.”

“They’ll fade. Eventually.” Alastar grinned at him. “And I promise I don’t think you look any less attractive for them.” He snickered to himself when Sirius seemed to perk up at that.


	41. Warm

**Warm**

It was particularly cold that night, the wind howling and coming off the sea, bitterly cold, the building’s heat unable to keep up with the drafts. Benny’d had the brilliant idea of wearing the matching turtleneck sweaters he’d gotten for them both (and Cary couldn’t complain, really, it fit perfectly and was _so soft_ ), and bundling up on the couch wrapped up in Benny’s warmest blanket. He drew the line at the hot cocoa, though- he was too warm as it was. But Benny was enjoying his own mug, finally comfortable as he sat curled up, pressed into Cary’s side as they watched one of Benny’s favorite movies.

He was surprised that it wasn’t something sci-fi, but rather one of those dark eighties fantasy movies. The Neverending Story, maybe. Benny knew it by heart- and apparently knew the book by heart too, as he rattled off differences between it and the film. Cary was content to listen to him ramble on about it.

“You know,” Benny said, “it’s strange, watching this movie now, after all the stuff that happened this summer. With Kee’ and ‘The Boy’ and all. Are we just part of some kid’s imagination, too? Or do we exist in our own right? It’s so weird to think about.”

“Maybe it’s a bit of both,” Cary told him. “I think we do exist in our own right, but he can influence some of the things that happen here. After all, Emmet and I could still move in his world, if only barely. And he was able to send us back.”

“Yeah…” Benny whined, staring forlornly down into his now-empty mug. Cary chuckled softly and shoved the blanket off, taking the empty mug from Benny’s hands and leaning down to peck his lips.

“Sit tight Ben, I’ll be right back.” Benny grinned, snuggling further into the fluffy comforter.

“You’re the best, B.” It was silent for a short while as the kettle heated up again, the only sounds coming from the television. Cary could feel Benny’s gaze practically burning a hole into his back. “You know, you look _really_ sexy in that sweater.” And there it was. He smiled to himself. “Did I do a good job picking that out, or what?”

“It’s very comfortable, Ben,” he agreed, chuckling softly. Finally the kettle started to whistle, and he mixed up the second mug of cocoa. “How many marshmallows? Or should I just bring the whole bag?”

“Whole bag please!” He grabbed for the mug as Cary came back, and grabbed a handful of marshmallows from the bag, dumping them in. “Mmm. Perfection.” He snuggled close once again as Cary rejoined him on the couch. “Best night in ever.”


	42. Coffee Shop AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on a post about someone's very amusing experience at starbucks one morning

It was fairly early in the morning, the sky just starting to turn a hazy gray, and the Coffee Chain was busy. It was his first day back on the force after an extensive leave to get his face fixed (as much as it could be anyway- it was never going to be perfect again, but it was a vast improvement over the travesty it was before), and he had a feeling it was going to be a good one. He was just stepping up to place their order when the door opened to admit a gaggle of Master Builders, which he vaguely recognized. Like everyone else waiting for their morning dose of caffeine, they were looking pretty zoned out.

The blue spaceman lost his hold on his partner's hand as they got jostled by the crowd. He blinked looking around, and drifted back to his group, grabbing someone else's hand. “This is nuts!” he exclaimed, and the young woman just quirked an eyebrow at him. He glanced down at their hands, then back up, blinking. “You’re not Unikitty.”

“Nope,” the young woman said, looking amused. The young man at her side (Emmet, he suddenly remembered- oh, that was Emmet!) grinned widely, taking her other hand, and he found himself smiling as well. So Emmet had finally found actual friends, and apparently even a girlfriend.

“You’re holding the wrong hand, Benny,” Unikitty giggled.

“You’re sure?” Benny asked.

“We’re sure,” the young woman replied, looking amused. Benny looked at her, very serious.

“I feel very committed to finishing this Coffee Chain experience with you now.”

“I’m not paying.”

“Oh. Let me go back to Unikitty then.”

“I’m not paying either!” Unikitty teased. Emmet was snickering in earnest now, and even his girlfriend had a wide grin at the utterly baffled look on the astronaut’s face. It was just too cute, and he couldn’t resist anymore.

“Come hold my hand, sir. I’ll buy you any drink you want,” he offered.

 _G, what are you doing,_ came a grumble from the back of his mind.

 _I’m sorry, B, he was just too adorable to leave hanging like that!_ He smiled as Benny floated over and took his hand, then looked back at the group he had entered with.

“At least someone cares about me,” he told them solemnly, then ordered a decaf. He was still holding his hand when their orders were finished, and he really couldn’t find it in himself to complain about that. The other Master Builders were still giggling at him when he turned back to them and told them “This is my boyfriend now,” and took a sip of his coffee, as if that was the end of the argument. Emmet finally lost his battle and doubled over laughing.  
  
Good Cop smiled to himself, feeling absolutely tickled at Benny's declaration. A good day, indeed.


	43. Shower

**Shower**

Benny was working on making the bed while Cary was in the shower, when he heard a grunt, and then a pained hiss. He paused, dropping the comforter to go knock on the bathroom door. “B? You alright in there?”

“…I may need some help,” the cop admitted, and Benny felt his stomach twist at that. Damn the Ringmaster. Benny wished he could have done something far more satisfyingly violent to him.

“I’m coming in,” he announced, opening the door and slipping through, trying _not_ to think about how this would be the first time he got to see Cary naked. And dripping wet.

Shit.

_Benjamin James Blue, pull yourself together. This isn’t the time, he’s hurting._

He took a deep breath and let it out, calming himself before shucking off his boxers and stepping into the shower, stubbornly keeping his gaze up. “What can I do?”

“My back,” Cary grumbled. “I can’t…”

No, Benny supposed not, judging by the large black and purple bruises littered all over his torso. It was a wonder he could move at all. He got up on the tips of his toes, kissing Cary’s jaw. “I got you, B.” He took the washcloth and carefully scrubbed the cop’s back, mindful of the cuts and scratches. Cary hummed softly as Benny worked, a sound of content, and Benny smiled to himself. This was actually kind of nice. Intimate in its own way.

“Thanks,” Cary murmured once he was done.

“Not a problem,” Benny said, and floated up to kiss him softly. “We’re partners, right? That means I take care of you, too.” The fond look Cary gave him nearly made his heart melt.


	44. Coffee Shop AU Pt2

**Coffee Shop AU Pt2**

It was perhaps a week later that he ran into the blue spaceman again. They’d stopped at the Coffee Chain for a quick break, getting a coffee for Bad and a donut for himself, when the door nearly slammed open and the astronaut blew through like a whirlwind. “You!” he exclaimed, pointing at the cops.

“Yes?” Good Cop asked, startled.

“Why are you so hard to find?”

Good Cop smiled gently at him. “Well we do have work to do, we can hardly just stay put. Did you need something?”

“Yeah.” The whirlwind-energy died down a bit as the astronaut simply floated in place. “I wanted to thank you for letting me build a spaceship! And apologize for the other morning, I’m sorry for all the dumb stuff that I said, I’m such a zombie that early in the morning I don’t know what I’m doing ninety percent of the time-”

“It’s fine,” Good Cop assured him, smiling even through the disappointment. “I thought it was kind of cute, honestly.”

“Oh.” The spaceman fidgeted, looking uncomfortable now. “Uh.”

“You’re one of Emmet’s friends, right?” He nodded. “I don’t think I caught your name.”

“I’m Benny!” he chirped.

“It’s nice to finally meet you properly, Benny,” Good Cop told him, giving him a smile before heading for the door. Cute as he thought the spaceman was, he couldn’t allow himself to get attached. It was highly unlikely Benny would want anything more to do with them now that he’d gotten that off his chest, not after all they’d done to Master Builders over the years.

 ** _It’s better this way_** , Bad told him.

“I know,” Good Cop sighed as he got back in their patrol car. “It was pretty silly of me to get my hopes up when he was so obviously out of it, wasn’t it?”

**_…Just eat your donut, G, we don’t have the time to think about this kind of stuff anyway._ **


	45. Feast

**Feast**

Cary was not the least bit surprised to find that the date of the first lunar landing was considered a holiday in Cape Space, because _of course_. Benny wasn’t deterred by his amusement though, insisting he come along to spend the day with him and his crew as they celebrated. So he agreed, letting Benny fly them both to Ken and Lenny’s house. They had bought it and moved in together long before Master Builders had been outlawed, Benny explained. Cary vaguely remembered having been there before, while hunting for the pair of them. It had been repainted since. Benny directed him to the back yard, where he set a bowl of his ma’s famous macaroni salad on the picnic table. Ken already had the grill fired up and was cooking steaks.

“Hey,” Ken greeted.

“Hey,” Cary returned, nodding to him.

“Glad you could make it.”

“Thanks for having me.”

They stood in silence for a while, then Ken huffed a laugh. “Stars, could we get any more awkward?” Cary finally cracked a smile. “Look, I’m… sorry, about what I said that day. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been, coming out here by yourself to try to make amends. And then I had to go and be the asshole to throw that back in your face…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t know if I could have done that, were I in your shoes. Truth is, you’ve been _good_ for Benny. I haven’t seen him so close to _normal_ since Metalbeard found him.”

“How do you mean?”

“His spaceship obsession?”

Cary thought on that for a bit. “That… has seemed to become less of a concern of his, the longer I’ve known him.”

Ken nodded. “He’s always had a passion for space, I don’t think _that’s_ ever going to change. But the spaceship thing didn’t start until after he was brought out of cryo. I don’t know if it had to do with him suddenly finding himself with Master Builder abilities, or if that was his way of coping with finding himself thrown twenty years into the future, or if it was… brain damage, from the accident, and the oxygen loss, and all… But it just kept getting worse, as time went on. You know better than I do how badly he spazzed out when you all finally let him build one on Takos Tuesday.” Cary nodded. “But you’ve been keeping him grounded, keeping him focused. I’m glad you found each other.”

They glanced over to where Benny was excitedly chatting with the other three, when Jenny squealed loudly and snatched at Benny’s hand, Benny laughing all the while. Ken smirked when he caught a glint of gold. “I take it he said yes, then.”

“Ah, well. More like _I_ said yes.”

Ken gave him a surprised look, then started laughing. “Oh stars, you two. Yeah, you were definitely meant to be.” Cary smiled. “Alright guys, food’s on!” Ken called as he piled the steaks onto the serving plate and carried it to the table. Jenny bounced over and threw her arms around Cary, nearly knocking him off balance.

“I’m so happy for you two!”

“Ah, thank you,” he said, awkwardly patting her back. Benny was grinning as he sidled over and took Cary’s hand, sitting with him once Jenny released her hold. The picnic table was nearly buried by a veritable feast that made him think of Thanksgiving- different menu, of course, but just as much food. No doubt they would be expected to take leftovers home with them. Cary smiled to himself, relaxing as the five astronauts chattered happily amongst themselves over lunch. He couldn’t hope to keep up with the conversation, but he was content to sit back and listen. It didn’t feel so much like he was on the outside looking in, anymore.


	46. Culture

**Culture**

Benny lounged on Unikitty’s couch, playing with her old Tamagotchi (such a strangely addicting little game) while she hummed and hawed over which movie to watch. She’d gotten her paws on quite a collection of sci-fi films after discovering his love for them. He’d marveled at first, at this miracle Unikitty called “blu-ray”. Entire movies _and_ bonus material all on one little disc! Technology sure had come a long way since the first CD. He glanced up as she picked one up, catching “Armageddon” written across the top, then grimaced and tossed it away with a “nah”.

“Something wrong with that one?”

“Oh, well- I just remembered there’s this… one scene right at the beginning that. Um.”

“Might not be so good for me to see?” Benny guessed, and she nodded. “Alright, I trust your judgment.”

“Oh hey, how about Mars Attacks? It’s so ridiculously stupid, I think you’ll _love_ it!”

“Does it have spaceships in it?”

“It has flying saucers, do those count?”

“Close enough.” Unikitty squealed and put it on, pouncing onto the couch next to him. Benny laughed when he bounced off the cushions. “Geez, ‘Kitty, take it easy!”

“Oh my gosh Benny we’re gonna have so much fun, I can’t wait to tell you about all the cool stuff you missed while you were in stasis!”

Benny grinned. “Like your Tamagotchi?”

“Even better! Gosh I can’t wait til you’re ready for the internet. _Memes_ , Benny! Best invention ever!”

“Oh stars,” he cackled.


	47. Brownies

**Brownies**

“I smell chocolate!” Benny loudly announced as he opened their door, letting himself in, and Alastar laughed.

“Even from out in the hallway? Goodness,” he teased, and motioned for Benny to come closer. The spaceman did just that, peering into whatever Alastar had warming up in the saucepan.

“…You’re mixing batter on the stove?”

“It’s Mum’s special brownie recipe, made from scratch.”

“Special as in they’re just that good or special as in _special?_ ” Benny asked, waggling his eyebrows.

“Oh, for-” Alastar laughed. “We’re _cops_ , what do you think?”

“Ah, well, seeing as it’s Ma’s recipe, I’m gonna go with ‘they’re just that good’.”

“They really are, I promise.” Benny helped himself to the fridge, getting a glass of iced tea. He perched himself on the countertop to watch as Alastar pulled the saucepan off the stovetop and switched it off, scraping the batter into a baking dish.

“What did you say this stuff’s called again? Something with an R?”

“Rooibos,” Alastar answered. “Want to lick the spoon?”

“Would I ever!” Benny cheered, bouncing as Alastar handed him the spoon and eagerly licking off the batter. “Oh wow, that _is_ good. So what made you decide to start using that instead of regular tea? Was it because of me?”

“Oh, no, not really. I actually started using it because Cary always complained about me using too much sugar when I made it with black tea. Rooibos isn’t nearly as bitter, so I don’t have to use nearly as much to sweeten it. And I can still have my iced tea, so it was a win-win.”

Benny laughed. “The mint’s a nice touch.”

“Thank you.”

“How long will it take those to bake?”

“Oh, not long. About fifteen minutes.” He grinned. “I think you’ll survive until then.”

And then a gruffer voice added, “Ben, get off the counter.”

Benny grinned and set his glass down, launching himself at Cary and pecking his lips. “Hi, B.”

“Hello yourself,” Cary said, smiling at him.

“So I’m surprised you’re not making a fuss about Alastar baking.”

“I did my fussing already. He won.” Benny laughed.


	48. Memory

**Memory**

“So?” Risky drawled the next time they saw each other, grinning. “Did I call it, or what?”

“Yeah, yeah, you called it,” Sirius huffed at him. “…Thank you, by the way.”

“You’re welcome,” Risky replied, smug.

It was a surprisingly nice day for mid-March, prompting the two brothers to buy coffee and lunch from one of the many sidewalk vendors and simply stroll through Bricksburg. Risky was especially thrilled by the decision, wanting to reacquaint himself with the city he hadn’t seen in nearly forty years. So much had changed since he’d moved away, and Sirius admitted to being the biggest reason for that, but so much had also stayed the same. Sirius smiled whenever Risky pointed out something he remembered, suddenly grateful he hadn’t destroyed _everything_ in his attempts to make the city so uniform and controlled.

“What’s with the look?”

“Huh?” Sirius startled. “What look?”

“ _That_ look,” Risky said. “The melancholy one.”

“Oh, just… thinking,” he sighed. “About how much of a screw-up I am.”

“It could’ve been worse. You could be _me_.”

“Oh, for- would you _stop_ that??”

“Not until you do,” Risky responded cheerfully, and sipped his coffee. Sirius scowled at him.

“So it’s to be blackmail, is it?”

“What can I say? I learned from the best.”

They both fell silent at that. Sirius broke the silence after a few too many awkward minutes.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Risky replied, just as eager to be rid of the tension.

“Do you remember what Grandma and Grandpa were like?”

Risky gave him a curious look, wondering what prompted _that_ question. “Yeah. I remember they worked very hard to make Octan what it was. And they were very kind and loving. Honestly, Ma and Pa remind me of them a _lot_.” Sirius smiled a bit at that. “I think my favorite thing was when they’d take me to their place for a week around Christmas.”

“Yeah,” Sirius sighed. “That was about the only time I ever got to see them. What was it like, growing up? Did Fa- … _Arthur_ treat you the same way he did me?”

Risky glanced at him, reaching over to gently squeeze his shoulder in commiseration. “At first. I may have been unplanned, but he still tried to shape me into the ‘perfect’ heir for Octan. At least until I was about fourteen years old and he realized he didn’t have as much control over me as he thought.”

“And that’s when I came into the picture.”

“Probably why he never let you see our grandparents either, I’m pretty sure he blamed them for how I turned out. Never once thought that maybe I just realized how much of an _ass_ he was.”

“Heh. In that, at least, you were _much_ smarter than me. I just- I can’t help but wonder how he turned out the way he did.”

“You know, I asked Grandma and Grandpa that exact question once. The best they could figure was just… greed. Octan was still a pretty small company when he was little, and then business started booming practically out of nowhere. Our family went from being middle-class to one of the wealthiest in the _world_ in the span of like ten years, and he grew up during all of that. Must’ve got to his head. He got used to things going his way, people obeying his every whim, and he tried to train us to be the same way.”

“And they never did anything to try to stop that?”

Risky shrugged. “They did. I can’t tell you how many times I overheard them arguing. They never actually handed the company over to him, you know? He inherited it after the accident.”

“No, I didn’t know that. That’s interesting…”

“Yeah I know, he sure acted like he was in charge long before then.” Risky stared down into his coffee. “I think they were planning on handing it to you, once you were old enough.”

“Not you?”

“Arthur disowning me kind of put a damper on that. I’d already decided I didn’t want the company by then, anyway. It wasn’t worth everything he’d put me through.”

Sirius gripped his coffee cup tightly, nearly popping the lid off. Risky gave him a concerned look and reached over to gently squeeze his wrist before he crushed the cup and spilled coffee all over himself. “I wish the accident had never happened.”

“Me too.”


	49. Peace

**Peace**

He woke to find his head tucked under Alastar’s chin and their legs tangled together, one of Alastar’s arms draped over his waist. He felt a little gross from their activities the night before, but also too boneless and sated still to move just yet. It was still dark out anyway. He shifted under the covers to rest a hand on the cop’s hip, gently stroking bare skin, still marveling at _everything_.

The touch seemed to wake his lover, Alastar drawing in a deep breath and stretching. “Good morning,” he murmured.

“Not quite morning yet, the sun’s not even up.”

“We’re awake, it counts as morning.” Sirius chuckled softly.

“If you say so.”

“I do say so. You gonna get up here so I can kiss you, or what?”

“Ugh, _no_. I’ve probably got terrible morning breath.”

Alastar snickered at that. “So go brush your teeth.”

“ _Mmf_ ,” Sirius grunted back at him. “Don’t feel like moving yet.”

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” Sirius sighed, closing his eyes again. “Last night was… _wow_.”

“Worth the wait,” Alastar agreed, pulling him close. Sirius smiled, but it was quick to fall away. As the silence stretched on, Alastar nudged him. “Sirius?”

“Yeah?”

“You sure you’re alright?”

“Still having trouble wrapping my head around all of this,” he admitted quietly. “After everything I did… by all rights, you should _hate_ me.”

Alastar was silent as he raked his fingers through Sirius’ hair. “For a while, I did,” he eventually admitted.

“You did?”

“Mm.” Another brief stretch of silence. “While I was trapped in Purgatory. I was _furious_. For what you did to me, sure, but more for what you did to _Cary_.”

“Yeah I remember…” Sirius muttered, wincing at the memory of that punch.

“But holding on to all that anger and pain and hatred, after so long it… it starts to change you. And I was _terrified_ of who I was becoming. So once it became apparent that Cary wasn’t going to be joining me after all, I started trying to make peace with everything that had happened.”

“You still punched me though,” Sirius pouted.

“Yeah, I hadn’t _quite_ managed to let go of it all by the time you guys brought me back… I meant what I said back then, though, and I still do. It wasn’t an easy choice to make, but it was the _right_ one, and I’m glad I stuck to it.” Sirius grunted softly as Alastar pulled him up to kiss him anyway. “You _are worth loving_. Please try to remember that.”

“…I’ll try.”

“Good.” Alastar grinned at him then and rolled onto his back, pulling Sirius on top of him.

Sirius quirked an eyebrow at him. “You are _insatiable_. Ugh, what have I gotten myself into?”

“You didn’t think it was such a chore last night.” Sirius shuddered as feather-light kisses were pressed to his throat.

“…Pass the lube, would you?”


	50. Wedding

**Wedding**

The ceremony had been a simple affair, quiet and pleasant, and Pa and Emmet were the only ones who got a little misty-eyed when Benny and Cary shared their first kiss as an officially married couple. Benny whooped loudly and threw his bouquet (he’d insisted on having one), and Metalbeard blinked down as it landed in his lap. He smiled and picked the flowers up to give them to his wife, who crooned “oh, Jonas” and kissed him softly.

“Aww!” Unikitty cooed.

“Darn it, I was aiming for Lucy,” Benny snickered. He grinned and took Cary’s arm when he offered, reaching up to kiss his cheek.

“Have I told you how handsome you look in your uniform?”

“Once or twice,” Benny giggled. “Since this morning.” Cary ducked his head in embarrassment, but couldn’t seem to get rid of his smile. Benny hugged his arm tightly. “You’re so darn cute, B.”

They then moved on to the country club Sirius had reserved for the reception. (They had protested him paying for it, but he was insistent on spoiling them, it seemed. He’d paid for the catering too- though Emmet and Unikitty had fought him on buying the wedding cake, wanting to bake & decorate one themselves. Cary had almost cried at that.)

“So how does it feel to be an _official_ member of the family?” Alastar asked, and grinned. “Benjamin Callaghan.”

Benny grinned back, bouncing on his toes. “It feels _great_.”


	51. Sick

**Sick**

Benny groaned miserably as Cary let himself into the room, hanging halfway off the bed. The trash can was within easy reach, though he was certain he had nothing left to heave up. “How’re you feeling, Ben?”

“Like death warmed over,” Benny grumbled. Cary wordlessly set a glass of ginger ale on the night table. Benny glanced up at it. “You’re a saint.”

“Can you sit up?”

“Noooooo,” Benny whined, reaching for him. Cary shook his head in fond exasperation and stepped closer, lifting Benny into a sitting position and stuffing pillows behind his back. The spaceman snuggled back into them, reaching for the glass and sipping at it. “Mm…”

“Think you might be able to keep some soup down?”

“Maybe in a bit.” Benny pouted at him. “Would you feed it to me?”

Cary gave him a flat look. “I think you’re more than capable of feeding yourself, Ben.”

“But Beeee, I’m siiiiiick,” Benny wheedled.

“You’re a right infant, is what you are.” Benny pouted more. “ _Fine_ , fine. Stop giving me the kicked puppy eyes, you’re worse than Emmet.” He adjusted the covers, making sure Benny was comfortably tucked in. “Sit tight, I’ll get you some water.”

“Ugh…”

“You’ve been puking all night, I’m not going to let you get dehydrated.”

“Fine,” Benny sulked, sinking back into the pillows. “B?”

“Yes?”

“Will you read to me?”

Cary fought back the urge to sigh and thump his head against the wall. He’d never guessed a sick Benny would be such a handful. “After soup,” he agreed, and left the room once more.


	52. Stubborn

**Stubborn**

Benny didn’t miss the way Cary had been sneezing all evening. “Allergies,” Cary tried to wave off his concern, but when he started coughing in his sleep, Benny knew something was up. And he was hot to the touch- well, hotter than usual, anyway. So when he tried to get up at 5AM the next morning to start getting ready for work, Benny grabbed his arm and yanked him back down. “Ben, what the heck-”

“You’ve got a fever,” Benny mumbled. “Can’t tell me you don’t, otherwise this-” he tugged on Cary’s arm- “wouldn’t have worked. Go back to sleep.”

“Ben, I have to work-”

“Alastar’s a big boy, he can handle the precinct himself today.”

“I’m _not_ sick.”

Benny cracked an eye open, glaring at him. “The hell you aren’t. _I_ got too hot last night, and that’s saying something.” That gave Cary pause. He realized he _hadn’t_ been tangled with Benny when he woke- the spaceman was always clinging to him at night, always cold. “B. I know you take pride in your attendance record, but I think they’ll forgive you for taking a day off to make sure you don’t get worse. Just relax, would you?”

“But I-”

Benny cut him off with a growl and reached across him to grab his phone, typing up a short text and sending it to Alastar. “There. You’ve officially called out for the day.”

“ _Ben_.”

“Stars, you’re stubborn,” Benny huffed back. “Am I going to have to sit on you to make sure you stay in bed?”

“…You weigh like eighty pounds.”

“You know the gravity thing works in reverse too, right?” Cary glared at him. Benny glared right back. Cary’s phone beeped with an incoming message.

_Thanks for letting me know Benny, I’ll mark him down for sick leave when I get in._

“There, see? Alastar agrees. You’re staying home today.”

“ _Fine_.”

Benny only got perhaps another half an hour of rest, before Cary heaved an aggravated sigh and pushed himself out of bed. Several minutes later, he heard water running and dishes clinking.

“Man Upstairs, grant me patience,” Benny growled before stumbling out from under the covers to follow him. “Stubborn idiot.” He stalked out into the kitchen. “Do you seriously not know the meaning of the word ‘relax’?”

“I don’t like just sitting around doing nothing.”

“That’s it.” Cary yelped when Benny’s arms wrapped around his middle and the feeling of weightlessness tingled through him. “Ben, what-?!” Benny dragged him over to the couch and dropped him down on it, and it was like the last reserves of his energy were sapped, his limbs heavy like lead. “What the hell-”

“The world’s not going to end just cause you’re not _doing something_.” Benny put his hands on his hips, but at a mere five foot seven, with wild bedhead and clad only in his cartoon spaceship boxers, he didn’t make a very intimidating figure. Cary made a valiant effort not to laugh, and just barely managed to succeed. “Now. I’m going to get you some ibuprofen for that fever, and you are going to _chill_.”

He stared hard at Benny for a moment longer, then gave up with a sigh, sinking more comfortably into the couch. “Alright, you win.”


	53. Funeral

**Funeral**

He sat in his car, parked at an inconspicuous distance, gripping the steering wheel tight as he watched the mourners slowly leave the gravesite. It didn’t surprise him at all that _they_ were the _first_ to leave, tugging a miserable little six-year-old along with them in such a stern manner he nearly charged out to yell at them. He didn’t, though. He could get into a _lot_ of trouble if they realized he was even there.

He drew in a shuddering breath, folding his arms over the wheel and resting his forehead against them. Never in his life had he thought himself able to cry so much. He wished he could have seen them one last time. He wished he could have attended the funeral, or at least gone to the viewing. But instead he had to sit and wait to pay his respects in secret.

A small hand pressed to his back, rubbing gentle circles, and he glanced over. She’d been such a comfort through the whole mess. Nobody had even bothered to call to tell him- he’d had to hear it in the news. A terrible accident, caused by the sudden storm they’d been hit with just a week before. They’d tried to hurry home before it hit… and got caught in it.

“Everyone’s gone,” she murmured. “You want me to come with you?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, sitting up and starting the engine again. He drove carefully through the slush, making his way towards his grandparents’ graves. He grabbed the bouquet of flowers he’d bought, before getting out of the car, and took her hand when she reached for him. She gave him a gentle, encouraging squeeze before letting go and standing back in silence. She didn’t say a word as he placed the flowers by the headstone and sat down hard in the melting snow. He didn’t care if the mud ruined his suit.

The tears started up all over again. “Rigel?” Sally asked, stepping closer in concern.

“It’s not fair,” he murmured. “God, I miss them _so much_ … And I never got to thank them for everything they did for me…” He leaned against her when she kneeled down beside him. “And I shudder to think what’s going to happen to Sirius now.” He wiped his eyes. “They always talk about how smart he is, I just hope he sees how much of an asshole Arthur is, too…”

She took his hand, pressing close to his side. “Come on, baby, let’s get out of the cold…”


	54. Hero

**Hero**

After Taco Tuesday, Finn had finally worked up the courage to ask about the worn and damaged blue astronaut that seemed to have a place of honor on the Cape Space table. It had been a surprise to the boy, to find something so obviously _old_ in his Dad’s otherwise mint-condition collection.

Bill almost reverently took the minifigure as Finn held it up to him, thumb gently rubbing over the worn and scratched logo on his chest. “I got him for my sixth birthday,” he said softly. Finn couldn’t hide his surprise- he’d assumed the figure had been well-loved by _some_ kid before his father had acquired it, but he never would have guessed his _Dad_ to be that kid. It was difficult to imagine his Dad ever actually _playing_ with Legos, after being scolded not to touch for so long. “My parents bought me several space sets, and I managed to keep one of each of the astronauts, though I lost the rest of the pieces _years_ ago. He was…”

“Your hero?” Finn guessed. Bill nodded.

“Yeah. He was my ‘hero’. He and his crew saved the world lots of times.”

“Did he fight lots of bad aliens?”

“Naturally. He worked in _space_ , after all.”

“Tell me about it??”

Bill chuckled at the eager note in Finn’s voice. “ _After_ supper. We shouldn’t keep your mom waiting.” Finn didn’t have to be told twice, bolting up the stairs. Bill glanced down at the minifigure he still held, then walked over to Cape Space to put him back before following his son up to the dining room.

Maybe he no longer had the imagination he once did, but some part of him was glad to see Benny was still having adventures and helping to save the day.


	55. Peace

**Peace**

He woke to find his head tucked under Alastar’s chin and their legs tangled together, one of Alastar’s arms draped over his waist. He felt a little gross from their activities the night before, but also too boneless and sated still to move just yet. It was still dark out anyway. He shifted under the covers to rest a hand on the cop’s hip, gently stroking bare skin, still marveling at _everything_.

The touch seemed to wake his lover, Alastar drawing in a deep breath and stretching. “Good morning,” he murmured.

“Not quite morning yet, the sun’s not even up.”

“We’re awake, it counts as morning.” Sirius chuckled softly.

“If you say so.”

“I do say so. You gonna get up here so I can kiss you, or what?”

“Ugh, _no_. I’ve probably got terrible morning breath.”

Alastar snickered at that. “So go brush your teeth.”

“ _Mmf_ ,” Sirius grunted back at him. “Don’t feel like moving yet.”

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” Sirius sighed, closing his eyes again. “Last night was… _wow_.”

“Worth the wait,” Alastar agreed, pulling him close. Sirius smiled, but it was quick to fall away. As the silence stretched on, Alastar nudged him. “Sirius?”

“Yeah?”

“You sure you’re alright?”

“Still having trouble wrapping my head around all of this,” he admitted quietly. “After everything I did… by all rights, you should _hate_ me.”

Alastar was silent as he raked his fingers through Sirius’ hair. “For a while, I did,” he eventually admitted.

“You did?”

“Mm.” Another brief stretch of silence. “While I was trapped in Purgatory. I was _furious_. For what you did to me, sure, but more for what you did to _Cary_.”

“Yeah I remember…” Sirius muttered, wincing at the memory of that punch.

“But holding on to all that anger and pain and hatred, after so long it… it starts to change you. And I was _terrified_ of who I was becoming. So once it became apparent that Cary wasn’t going to be joining me after all, I started trying to make peace with everything that had happened.”

“You still punched me though,” Sirius pouted.

“Yeah, I hadn’t _quite_ managed to let go of it all by the time you guys brought me back… I meant what I said back then, though, and I still do. It wasn’t an easy choice to make, but it was the _right_ one, and I’m glad I stuck to it.” Sirius grunted softly as Alastar pulled him up to kiss him anyway. “You _are worth loving_. Please try to remember that.”

“…I’ll try.”

“Good.” Alastar grinned at him then and rolled onto his back, pulling Sirius on top of him.

Sirius quirked an eyebrow at him. “You are _insatiable_. Ugh, what have I gotten myself into?”

“You didn’t think it was such a chore last night.” Sirius shuddered as feather-light kisses were pressed to his throat.

“…Pass the lube, would you?”


End file.
